What Once Was is Gone
by Shawnamber
Summary: Shawn loses everything she has in a zombie apocalypse. The only family she has is her sister. Can they survive and live on their own or will a new group help them? Will shawn open up to a certain someone in the new group about her past? R&R. OC
1. Chapter 1: The Beginning of the End

**Author's Notes!**

**This is my first fan fic by myself. It's for The Walking Dead. I'm doing another one with my friend Kelsey on Instagram ( the_walking_twins), but I wanted to write one on my own because I had some different ideas that I just wanted to get down on paper (or fan fiction lol). So here is the first chapter. Sorry if it's really short, but it's just a start. **

**Here is some background stuff about my character.**

**Shawn: turning 21, long hair, redhead. Quiet, tomboyish, sarcastic, hates pink. Um yeah that's about it for now. Other things you can catch from the story. :) ENJOY!**

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT own TWD! Just this story and my original characters.**

* * *

**Chapter 1: The Beginning of the End**

"Shawn! Come on!" yells my best friend Kelsey. "The party is about to start!"

I can hear her yelling from the other room, but I don't say anything. Everyone's laughing and having a good time, but I can't seem to join them in the celebration. I just stand here in this room keeping to my thoughts, not wanting to be interrupted, and especially not wanting to have a party; a party about me. I think how crazy my life has been up to this point. Kelsey wanted to make this a special day for she is the only one who knows about everything. It was a special day I guess, but not having my own family here didn't make it feel very special. My family was gone. Mom died in a car accident a few months back. My stepdad, well, that's another story. Sister has her own family now. Haven't talked to her in God only knows how long. I just really want...

"Shawn! What are you doing? Lets go, you can't miss your own party!" Kelsey yells poking her head in the door.

I sigh, my thoughts being interrupted. "Okay, okay. I'm comin'!"

I walk into a huge room that my friends rented out for the party. It lookes like a room they use for those big fancy dances. They dressed the room up with a shit load of balloons. I told her no balloons, well maybe just one so I could suck the helium. I laugh at the thought. All the tables were perfectly placed in rows along the backside of the room and dressed with black plates and silverwear with green napkins. Of course she would do green, my favorite color. There's even a big sign, that I just noticed over my head, that says 'happy birthday'.

"Happy birthday!" they all jump up and scream. I just smile with a few giggles here and there.

"Kelsey and Joey did all the decorations," Melissa said smiling in their direction.

"Thanks guys, it... it's really awesome," I say making it sound like I didn't mean it. I did, though. Everything was so perfect, I couldn'tve had better friends to share this moment with.

"Here, have a drink," says Joey as he walks up to me with a Blue Moon. "You're favorite, right?"

"Thanks," I smile to him. Everyone around the room gives me weird looks as Joey hands me the beer. I hated when they did that. Yes, Joey is my ex-boyfriend, but he's still my bestfriend, and I sure am glad he's here.

"To Shawn! On this fine November 21st night," he says raising up his beer in a toast. I raise my beer, along with him and everyone else, and give a single nod. I take a sip of my Blue Moon as everyone takes a sip of their drink. We're all standing around the room when we hear blasting music. The lights are now starting to fade down and some black lights came on. What is this a rave now? I look around to see what's going on. I see Melissa at a small DJ station that I clearly missed while scanning the room when I came in. "...Melissa...," I let out with a chuckle and a shake of my head.

"Let's get this party STARTED!" She screams over the music, running to the middle of the floor. Everyone floods in to join her and starts dancing to "Apple Bottom Jeans."

"Oh dear Lord, Mel. You would...," I laugh. There was no way I was going to go out there and dance. Suddenly I feel a tug on my arm almost making me spill my Blue Moon.

"Come on, girl!" Kaley yells pulling me to dance. Kelsey and Isaac join Kaley and push me from behind to the center of the floor. They would all point to me as the song said "the whole club was lookin' at her."

"NO!" I yell laughing, hiding my face in my hands. I feel like an attention whore. I hated this. After a few songs of dancing I needed a break. I walk outside and lean up against the brick wall, staring at the full moon. I'm just about to take out a cigarette when Joey steps out. I quickly put the cigarette back in my pocket, "hey. Too much for ya too?"

"Ha, I just came out to check on you," he smiles.

"'M fine," I try to reassure him.

"Don't look like it." I give him a look saying 'I really am fine.' He shrugs his shoulders and looks away. I dated him for three years, he knows better than to keep asking. "I guess they got tired," he points out realizing the music stopped.

"Oh my God!" There's a scream inside. Joey and I take a quick glace at each other furrowing our eyebrows. "Help, please help!" yelled the same voice. We run inside to find everybody standing there wide eyed and shocked. I follow everyone's gaze and find Kelsey lying on the floor with what looked like Ryan on top of her. I get a little closer and notice blood.

"What the hell?! Dude get off of her!" I scream. He then lifts his head and looks at me, revealing Ryan's bloody face. It looked like Ryan, but really wasn't. His eyes were a cloudy white and he had flesh in between his teeth. Kelsey's, my best friends flesh. I start to cry softly, "J-Joey..." I try to say. Suddenly, Ryan comes lunging at me. Joey pushes me aside and ends up getting pushed to the ground by Ryan. Joey starts to scream as Ryan sinks his teeth into Joey's throat and tears into his abdomen. Suddenly his cries stop and mine begin. All I can see is blood, blood everywhere and a crystal clear bite mark, just like Kelsey had, but on her right arm. "NO!" All my friends are now in a panic. No one knows what to do. All I want to do is run, but I can't leave Kelsey or Joey.

"Shawn! Come on we gotta go!" I hear someone scream after me. I don't bother to turn and see who it is, just looking down at Joey with Ryan still going at him. I fall to my knees, crying.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," I say, making Ryan turn around to face me once again. "Shit..." I rock myself back to my feet and run to a table. I grab a knife and turn around seeing Ryan slowly stammering towards me. As he gets closer he brings his arms out to grab me. I raise the knife...

"NO!" Isaac screams as he watches me stab his friend in the chest, but Ryan doesn't go down. I panic pulling the knife out and pushing Ryan back with my hand. I raise the knife again as it lunges, this time aiming for his head. Instantly he drops as the knife goes through his brains. Isaac sprints over to me and slams me on the table behind me. "What the hell?! You just killed Ryan!" he screams in my face, putting hard pressure on my chest with his arm.

"Isaac! Get the hell off!" I scream trying to get the attention of the 6'3" boy hovering over me. I then feel the weight lifted as Melissa and her sister Amanda pull Isaac off me. "What the hell is your problem?!"

"MY problem?" Isaac starts. "You just stabbed my best friend in the freakin' brains!"

"Well hello open your eyes dude! Do ya not realize what he just did to MY best friends?!" I interject pointing to Kelsey's and Joey's bodies. He looks back at the bodies then back at me saying nothing. I look too, making my eyes fill up again with water. Kelsey's pretty wavy, blond hair was covering some of her face, but I could still see her eyes were wide open, her big green eyes. The two people I cared about most in this world since my family was torn apart were... gone. Dead...

"Come on, hun," Kaley says grabbing my shoulders to turn me and guide out of the building. "Let's get you out of here."

* * *

We all gather outside to try and determine what the hell is going on. "So what happened?" I ask quietly, not really sure if I wanted to know exactly. It was quiet for a couple seconds then my friend Holly started to explain.

"We were all eating and Ryan started acting funny. He took a couple bites of his food then he started complaining that he wasn't feeling good."

"He said he felt like he was getting a fever, so I checked his head a sure enough he was," Kimi continues. "And it was a really bad fever that was getting worse FAST." she took a long pause. "Then he blacked out, just sitting there in his chair."

"He woke back up a few minutes later, but something wasn't right," Holly chimes back in. "His eyes were all messed up and he started making a growling type noise and trying to grab at us. We all got up from the tables and backed away."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. This is like something you see in movies, not real life stuff. "So Kelsey... how did Kelsey...?" I tried to ask.

"We were all just standing around with Ryan still over by the tables and Kelsey was over by the drink table. I don't think she knew what was going on. Ryan started making his way toward us when Kelsey yelled something out and she grabbed his attention...," Kimi said looking down. I nodded telling her she didn't have to finish.

"We should all get outta here. I'm gonna go back in and grab my keys," I tell them and they all nod slowly. Of course this would be a time I don't keep my keys around my neck.

As I step back inside the first thing I do is look to where Kelsey and Joey lay, only they weren't there. Fear and panic quickly struck my face as I ran to the DJ table to grab my bag. When I turn back around to run back to the door Kelsey and Joey are there to greet me. Quickly they lash out, mouth fully agape, to take me down. I dodge them, making me fall to the floor. I scooch back on my butt as they get closer. I turn to my hands and knees, springing up to find my feet again and run straight for the door, opening it and slamming it shut in their faces. Both of them start slapping and scratching at the little window in the door, trying desparately to get to me and my other friends on the other side.

"What the hell?" Holly says completely shocked. "They're alive?!" She exclaims starting to open the door. I quickly slam it back shut, Holly giving me a confused look.

"I... I don't think they're alive...," I pant, shaking my head.

"What are they then?" I look at Holly, not really sure what to say to answer her question. Then it comes to me...

"Zombies..."


	2. Chapter 2: On the Run

**Chapter 2: On the Run**

Oh my God. Really? Did I just say that Kelsey and Joey were zombies? What the hell? There's no way this could seriously be happening. "So what do we do now?" asks little Kaley, clearly scared out of her mind.

"I think we should all stick together. Go to our houses and see if our families are okay," Melissa suggests. Everyone nods, but me. I had no family, but none of them knew that. Only Kelsey knew what truely happened.

"Shawn...?" Kimi starts. "You okay with that?"

"Uh... I... um... I think I'm gonna go off on my own guys," I have trouble saying. They all give me a look like 'why the hell would you do that?'

"But Shawn, we should really stay-"

"I know, I know," I cut her off. "And I really hope y'all do, but I can't be with y'all." I sigh, "I'm gonna go back home... to Georgia." They all look down disappointed that I won't stay with them.

"But your family, you have to stay-," Melissa tries to say.

"I have no family!" I yell at them. They all stand there shocked that I would say that. "I just needa go okay?" I didn't expect them to understand, and they probably never would. But I had to do this.

I walk over to my car and throw my bag inside. "Hey! Get your ass over here and at least say bye!" Kimi shouts as I close the car door. I walk over and we all exchange hugs and sobs. I strut back over to my car and hop in, sitting there for a few minutes watching my other friends drive away.

I sit there and think of what I'm going to do. "Where the hell are you gonna go, Shawn?" I couldn't go home becuase there was no home to go to. Well, there was, but I was scared about the chance _he_ would be there. Finally I start up the car and quickly back up and drive off. "Where to? Where to?" I make a few round around the area and finally decide to stop by my old house to pick up a few things. I can only hope my stepfather isn't there.

When I arrive I cautiously walk in realizing I didn't have anything for defence. The first place I go is the kitchen and grab up my mom's favorite butcher's knife. "This'll do," I say twirling it in my hand. I walk down the long, dark hall and freeze in front of the door that leads into my old bedroom, thinking about all the awful things that happened in this room. I slowly reach out my trembling hand to twist the doorknob. I sigh, looking at how everything is still a complete mess. I haven't been in this room, or even in this house since my mom died. I hesitantly step inside the room and gather up some of my clothes and stuff them in a duffel bag. I slung the bag over my shoulder and walked out. The next room over to the right was my mom's room. I wasn't sure if I wanted to go in, but then I suddenly remembered the gun she kept under the matress of the bed. I only hoped _he _didn't find it first. The door was all ready slightly open, so I pushed it the rest of the way with my knife. My heart is pounding as it slowly creaks open... Nothing. I let out a deep sigh, happy to find nothing there. I hury over to the bed and feel under the matress on the side where my mom slept. "Yes!" I find the fun and four bullets, putting them in my bag as well. I made my way back to the kitchen hoping I would find food to take, but of course _he_ took everything. I walk out back to my car and throw the duffel in the backseat. "Family...," I thought aloud. I did have my grandparents... "and they always have food," I continued.

I drive over to my grandparent's house to scrounge for some food. They only lived about five minutes away from me. I knew they would both be there, not sure if alive, but I knew would be there.

I pull up in the driveway barely slowing down. I could hear the loud, ear piercing ding, after running over the line, from outside letting whoever is inside know I'm here. "Stupid thing," I mumble stumbling out of the car, looking at the black wire. I take knife in hand ready to strike, twisting the doorknob. "It's locked?!" I start to knock hoping someone alive would hear and open the door. I feel like I'm standing outside forever when finally I can hear someone fiddling with the chain to unlock to door. The opens quickly and a tall, blond, skinny as a rail girl stands there, jaw dropped. She reaches her arms out and I quickly grab ahold of her. "Oh thank God," she whispers in my ear. I slowly pull back from a long, intense hug and look into her big blue/green eyes. "Come on," she says grabbing my arm.

* * *

Allie was just three and a half years older than me, making her 24. She was everything I had, pretty much my only family, other than my grandparents.

"I can't believe you're okay!" I exclaim as we go in the kitchen. "Where were you? I went to the house."

"I've been here. I didn't want to go to the house in case Mark was there," she explains. I look at her confused why she wouldn't want to be around Mark. He didn't do anything to her and I never told her what happened to me. I shake out the thought...

"I didn't see him; looks like the house was pretty much cleared out though. I guess he took all he could and ran." I told her.

"I'm so glad you're okay!" my grandma yells rushing over to hug me and kissing my cheek as she always has. I smile softly not really knowing what to say. My grandpa then comes out of hiding and joins us in the kitchen.

"Hey g-pa," I say reaching out to hug him.

"Hey baby," he smiles back and pulls away. "Where've you been?"

"Well, it's still November 21st. I was at my birthday party that my friends held for me," I say sadly, looking down at the kitchen counter.

"I didn't know your friends were giving you a party," Allie looks at me confused.

"Yeah..."

"What happened?" my grandma asks. I look at her kind of annoyed that I have to explain Kelsey and Joey turning into zombies.

"Do y'all know anything that's goin' on out there?" I ask them raising my eyebrows.

"We saw something on the news," Allie replies. "But we weren't sure if it was true." For some reason I chuckle at the comment.

"Oh, it's true!" I glace around at the three of them. "Kelsey and Joey are dead. Well, they're zombies." They had the same look I must've had when I said that to Holly. Only when I start to tear up again is when they finally believe me.

"Oh my God!" Allie blurts out. "So the horror stories _are _true." I nod to her and sigh.

"Anyways, I just came here to get some food. Then I'm gone."

"Gone? Going where?" my grandpa asks.

"I'm going home back to Georgia." He raises his eyebrows and looks away is disbelief that I would go all the way there, when I have no one there.

* * *

"You have to come with me," I demand to Allie, dragging her into one of the bedrooms.

"I can't just leave them," Allie tells me. "And you can't either! They're our only family left!"

"I can't stay here. _We_ can't stay here." I didn't want to stay here. There are too many bad memories in this town. I just wanted out. She shakes her head at me. "Fine, but I'm leaving with or without ya."

"Why do you have to do this?" she asks me with sadness in her eyes. I shake off her stare and I make my way back to the kitchen. I can see some food all ready packed in a couple of grocery bags. There were some canned goods, peanut butter, and a few other things like chewy bars.

"I hope this helps," my grandma says motioning to the bags.

"Yes. This should last us a little while. Thank you." I take one of the bags and Allie grabs the other. "So you're coming?"

"I won't let you go off on your own," she says nodding.

I walk over the front window. I see more and more of those things gathering around the house. "We need to go. There are more of them out there. They must've followed me."

"You girls be safe out there!" my grandpa yells as we're walking out the door. We both turn and smile.

Slash! Slash! There were a couple of them by the car that I had to stab with my knife, one almost grabbing me from behind. I quickly hop in the car slamming my door. As I start to back out of the driveway I see my grandparents both come outside waving goodbye. One zombie, now two, three, four grab at my grandparents and knock them to the ground, chowing into their flesh. "NO!" Allie and I both scream from inside the car. They're gone! What did I just do?! Was this my fault for leaving? "GO GO!" Allie yells as a couple zombies starting hitting the windshield. I back out of the driveway not even looking where I'm going and just drive.

It seems like we drive for forever until we finally come to a country area with a couple secluded houses. We drive by a house way up on a hill with beautiful land and horses. Nothing around it. No other houses, no people, no… zombies. "It's getting late," Allie points out. "It's almost one in the morning." I look down at the clock in my car. Holy shit. "We should stay at the house we just passed," she says. I turn the car around and quickly head back in the other direction. When we come up on the house I turn down the long, winding driveway that connected road to house. When we get inside it's completely silent and so comforting. We didn't even bother to look for zombies. We could just feel there weren't any. It was a good feeling; something I haven't felt all day. I felt peace.

* * *

It's such a beautiful house inside! It has a kitchen my mom and Allie would kill to have, but she doesn't even acknowledge it, instead heading straight upstairs to find a bedroom. "How's this?" she asks as I come up behind her.

"Perfect," I let out a sigh.

Finally we settle into bed, Allie almost instantly falling alseep. I kept thinking about Mark. How was I going to tell her? I thought I'd tell her now since I'm thinking about it. "Hey, Al?"

"Yeah," she mumbles half asleep.

"There somethin' I kinda needa tell ya."

"Mmm," she groans practically asleep now.

"About Mark... he kinda did some things. Like... to... to me," I'm just barely able to talk. I lay there quietly waiting for her to say something... anything. I lean over and see her sound asleep. Dammit! There's no way I'd be able to say that again. I sigh and wiggle to my side, closing my eyes, and instantly falling asleep myself.


	3. Chapter 3: I Want My Dagger

**I'm getting to excited about this story! Sorry if I'm writing a lot. I'll take a little break after this chapter so y'all can read it. Please leave me some feedback!**

* * *

**Chapter 3: I Want My Dagger...**

The next morning, the sun was shining bright through the bedroom window making me get up first before my sister. Well, I never actually slept last night because I was afraid I'd dream, or more like have a nightmare. I stumbled downstairs to the kitchen of the house and sat at the dining room table thinking about what I said last night. There was no way I would be able to break that to her again. Maybe I can rack up the nerve to _show_ her, show her what he did. I definitely had the scars to prove it. I shake my head trying to make the thoughts disappear. I grab a chewy bar from one of the grocery bags my grandma packed for us last night and walk outside to the front porch. It's so beautiful on this farm like it wasn't touched by zombies at all. The horses were so peaceful grazing on the crisp, green grass. I take a deep breath of the humid Florida air and go back inside to see if Allie made it up yet. Soon, I hear my sister making her way down. "What's for breakfast?" She groans with a morning voice, almost sounding and looking like a zombie herself.

"Here have a chewy bar." I look for a bar in the bag and toss her one that she just barely catches. "We should be getting on the road soon," I say to her.

"Can't I wake up a little bit?" she asks opening the wrapper and taking a huge bite of the chewy bar.

"Well you better wake up fast. We'll stop at a gas station and get coffee."

"Good!"

We both head back upstairs to pack up our couple of bags we had. I rummage around the bedroom and look through the dressers and find some more clothes that may work for Allie and I. I find some band tees from the Ramones and Pink Floyd. Must've been a teenage girl by the size and curvature of the shirts. Not my favorite bands, but they'll work. As I walk over to the dresser by the window I notice something stirring around out back. I couldn't believe what I saw. Zombies? "Allie there's zombies back there!"

"Let's go," Allie calls to me as she's heading downstairs. We quickly grab the grocery bags of food and run outside for the car.

I speed down the driveway as I see some of the zombies from the backyard making their way to the front. "Do we even know where we are or where we're going? I know I don't," Allie questions making a good point.

"I'll just make my way back where we came from last night. I think we can get on the highway from back there. And there's a gas station too."

We arrive at the gas station and I notice there's not a lot of cars so hopefully not a lot of people.. well zombies. "I'm going inside to get a few things. You want some coffee?" Allie turns to me as she starts walking away. I nod to her.

"Hey wait! Take this," I hand out my knife. "I'm gonna try to get some gas in the car. Be careful in there. Remember only blows to the head take them down." She takes the knife hesitantly, but I give her a look as if saying 'it's okay'. I see her walk in and all I can do is pray that she comes out.

***Allie's POV***

I try to be as quiet as possible, but the stupid bell on the door rings out like 'hey zombies here's lunch'. I go straight for the drinks and see the little bottles of Starbucks coffees. I start to open the door to grab them when a zombie's bony, bloody hand reaches out to grab my arm. It's mouth fully open ready to taste my warm flesh. I give a quick blow to the zombie's arm making it back off for a second so I can finish it off. It quickly falls, just like Shawn said it would. I wasn't going to stand around any longer to see if there were more so I try again to open the door to get the coffees and throw them in my bag so I could get the hell out. On my way out I throw in some chips and water bottles as well. I can see Shawn pulling up to the front of the store, "come on sis!" I hop in the car and we drive away.

***Shawn's POV* (normal POV)**

When Allie gets in I notice blood on her right arm with a bloody knife in her hand. I stop the car. "What are you doing?" She asks.

"Everything all right in there?"

"Yeah, just killed one. Grabbed my arm, so I chopped his off."

"You didn't get scratched or anything right?"

She shakes her head, "I'm fine!" I start driving off again hoping now we could make it to Georgia.

* * *

We finally make it to the Florida/Georgia border. "How are we on gas?" Allie asks looking at the needle. I look at her as if to say 'shit we're out'. We didn't get too much further when my car finally gives up.

We both sigh, "I guess we're walking from here."

"Walking where?" She asks me as I start walking away.

I turn around to face her, "home."

"Shawn we're still miles from there. It'll take us days."

"Then I guess we better get going. We should probably get off the road and walk more down by the woods. All these stuck cars could have zombies."

"So you'd rather walk in the woods?" she asks confused.

"More zombies here on the road than in the woods, probably sis."

"All right, whatever." she says rolling her eyes and throwing her hands up in surrender.

Everyday it's walking, kill some zombies, hide, walk some more, hide again, kill more zombies. It was getting very exhausting and it didn't feel like we were getting very far.

* * *

***4 days later***

Allie and I were walking in the woods so tired from four days of hot sun and barely any rest. We hardly had any water left and we all ready ran out of food. "I don't know how much further I can go sissy," I cry out to her as she walks ahead. She pushes me a little further when we hear some rustling ahead of us. "Get behind the trees!" I whisper to her maybe a little too loudly. Suddenly my adrenaline is pumping in every inch of my body. Allie still has the knife I gave her back at the gas station and I have a dagger that I found a couple days ago in a car on the hishway, both of us ready to strike the zombies that were coming.

Then suddenly we hear, "Sophia!" Allie and I quickly snap our heads to look at each other.

"What the hell..." I say under my breath. People? I poke my head out from the tree I was behind and saw at least four people walking in our direction. Actual people!

"Sophia!" One of them cries out again. He was wearing a sheriffs uniform and had a handgun ready to shoot. I could hear them getting closer, me raising my knife. Allie shakes her head and mouths 'no' to me. All of the sudden Allie jumps out from behind the tree with her hands up in surrender. Oh my God. What did she just do?

"Hey we got a live one!" I heard one of the men call out.

"Please don't shoot," I heard Allie say. "It's just me and my little sister."

Great thanks Al. I come out of hiding and I see six people standing cautiously in front of her.

"Drop the knives," said the man in a sheriffs uniform. Allie drops hers immediately, but I ponder at the thought. "I said drop it!" He's yelling at me now. I glare at him about ready to just lunge at his face.

"It's not exactly a knife," I call to him sarcastically.

"Come on Shawn just do it," Allie begs me. Annoyed, I throw my dagger to the ground and a muscular guy with a crossbow comes to pick them up. I breathe out loudly as I see him walking away with our only weapons.

"So what's your names?" the sheriff asks.

"I'm Allie. This is my sister Shawn."

"What's in the bag?" Asks another man, who, just by the looks of him, I didn't like. There's a few seconds of silence from me refusing to answer.

Allie chimes in, "just clothes... water, but not much."

"Check it," the sheriff demands. The crossbow guy comes back and stands in front of me when I refuse to give them the bag.

"The bag..." he says clearly annoyed with me now. "We really gon' play this 'gain? Just hand it over." I drop the bag and he quickly sweeps it up backing away and unzipping them to reveal what's inside. He gave us both a confused look like he was shocked we were telling the truth.

"Like we said, just clothes an' water," I tell him.

The group of six start walking away when I scream out, "HEY! You're just going to raid through our stuff, take our only weapons and leave?!"

"You can't just leave us out here!" Allie chimes in.

'That's not really what I was getting at, Al,' I think to myself.

The sheriff turns around, "how do we know we can trust you?"

"How do we know we can trust _you_?" I answer back stepping in front of my sister and the sheriff.

"Shawn stop. We need them. Trust issues are going to happen, but we're all people here, not zombies." Allie has a point and I am sick and tired of walking the road.

"So y'all got a camp?" I ask.

"Yeah, but we can't take in any more," the sheriff tries to tell us.

"Oh come on, Rick. Just let them come," says the only girl, a blond, who looked kind of rough on the outside. Seems like she could handle things on her own.

"Andrea..." Rick says shaking his head.

I was just about to walk over and pick up my bag when Andrea got it first. "You're both coming with us" I give them all a dirty look while Allie just looks relieved. "Daryl, let them have their weapons," says Andrea.

"Not a chance," he spits out in my direction. I huff, giving him a dirty look as he walks away. I stand there while Allie starts walking with the group.

"Shawn come on!" Allie yells out. I start walking to them, but staying in the back of the group. Why did Allie have to come out from the tree? They never would've seen us! They could be like crazy killers or something! After a few minutes I notice the one with the crossbow, I guess Daryl, keeps looking back at me.

"What?" I finally say after about the fifth time he turns around.

"Just checkin' to make sure you're not gettin' eaten," he answers.

"Well you wouldn't haveta worry about that if you gave me my dagger back," I reply sarcastically. He huffs. "And I would most likely be screamin' if I was gettin' eaten." He rolls his eyes and keeps walking, getting more ahead of me.

"We're here," said the Chinese looking guy.

I stop to look around, "here where China man? It's just a huge open field."

"He's Korean!" Everyone shouts still walking up ahead. Allie turns around to laugh at me.

"It's Glenn. And look... over there," he says pointing to a beautiful house. Next to it was a barn with a couple horses. This is more space than the farm house Allie and I were at back in Florida.

I see two men walking back towards me, the only ones of the group I didn't know the names of. One of them was the guy that I didn't like all ready. "Welcome home. I'm Shane and this is T-dog by the way," he says. I just raise my eyebrows and nod, not saying anything.

"This is great isn't it?" Allie reassures me.

"Ya really want me to answer that?"

"Come on just give them a chance. For me?" She walks away with Shane and T-dog. I'm standing alone watching this tight knit group, Allie all ready looking like she's been with them since the start.

"Let's go!" Rick yells back to me.

I sigh, "I still want my dagger..."


	4. Chapter 4: Memories

**I know I said I would slow it down a little, but I had a lot of free time today. Remember reviews are much appreciated. It really helps to know if y'all actually like it or not :p**

**omg this is so long.. Sorry!**

* * *

**Chapter 4: Memories**

We walked across a huge yard closer to the house where this group had set up camp. I see Andrea throw my bag in an empty tent, Allie following behind her. I come up slowly, "a tent? What y'all don't sleep in the house?"

"No. This is Hershel's house. His family stays there," Andrea replies. "You can have this tent."

"Great."

Allie looks at me, "Oh come on Shawn, just give this a try. It's just like old times. Camping with mom."

"Heh yeah... just like..." I say sarcastically.

"Why don't you come on over and meet the rest of us," Andrea says as she starts walking away. I look at Allie trying to say I really don't want to, but she just smiles and follows Andrea. Oh here we go...

"This is Hershel," she begins, pointing to an older man with a white beard. "And his daughters Maggie and Beth." Maggie has short, light brown hair, clearly the older sister. She looked around my sister's age. Beth was a cute, little blond girl, maybe a few years younger than me. "They were gracious enough to take us all in," Andrea continues. "Rick's wife Lori and their son Carl. And this is Carol and Dale," Andrea points everyone out as she says their names. Carol looked to be an older woman with really short grey hair and Dale, an older man, maybe a little older than Hershel, with a hat. Cute old guy... I look around and study everyone's faces, not sure if Allie and I are exactly welcome here.

"So who's Sophia?" I ask curiously. As soon as I say her name everyones head drops. "I heard you screaming her name in the woods earlier."

"That's my daughter. She got lost a few days ago. We've been trying to look for her." Carol informs Allie and I.

"I'm sorry," Allie speaks up. "How old is she?"

"She's only twelve," Carol says getting choked up.

"It's okay, Carol. Come on," says Lori as she grabs Carols hand and brings her back to the RV. Everyone disperses and starts doing their own thing. "Hey, Allie is it?" Lori calls back to where Allie and I still stand. My sister nods. "You mind helping me with some things?"

"Sure, no problem," Allie calls barun and runs over to Lori and Carol. I stand there and look around feeling completely helpless when I finally catch Daryl walking across the field to his tent.

"Hey! Daryl!" I scream out to him, but he just keeps walking. I start to run now to catch up. "Hey!" I yell again this time reaching out to grab his arm. "I believe you still have something of mine," I say as politely as I can, but clearly very annoyed. He stops and turns around, almost turning right into me, getting in really close.

"Ya? What's that?" He asks readjusting his crossbow on his back, furrowing his eyebrows at me. I freeze as I'm memorized by those gorgeous blue eyes. "What do you want?" he asks making me come back to reality.

"Uhh... um...," I stammer, completely losing my train of thought, again. As Daryl starts walking away again, it makes me remember what I wanted. "My dagger Daryl... actually you should have my knife too," I call after him.

"Do I?" He stops, walking back to me.

"Don't play games with me, man. Just give 'em back. We're all good here right? No need for ya to still have 'em." He stands there for a couple seconds, looking me over. I raise my eyebrows and tilt my head forward, expecting him to give me what I want. He rolls his eyes and pulls them both out of his back pocket and hands them to me. I take both of them and quickly throw them into a tree close by my tent. One lands a little high the next perfectly pinning a falling leaf. I look back at Daryl who is standing there wide eyed and surprised. I could swear I heard him mumble 'damn' as he turns back to his tent. I walk over to the tree where my knives now stick.

"Could you be a little more careful with those?" Allie demands. I just chuckle. "It would be nice if these people liked us. Got it? You could try be a little nicer to everybody." I roll my eyes and go in our tent while Allie goes off and helps the rest of the group with things, I don't even know. Not even ten minutes later I could hear someone approaching.

"You could help out ya know..." says one of Hershel's daughters, I think Maggie, as she stands outside my tent.

I poke my head out, "yeah? Like what?"

"Just get up and help us."

I unwillingly get off my ass and leave my tent to help with stupid stuff like feeding the chickens, shit like that. Allie would stop by occasionally to check on me, which got kind of annoying after about the fifth time...

* * *

A couple hours had past and I see Rick, Shane, Glenn, Daryl, and T-dog gathering around one of the trucks. I yank my dagger out of the tree and head over in their direction. Allie stops me on my way, "what are you doing?"

"I'm going to help look for Sophia. Is there a problem?"

"You better watch it sis," She warns me, hands on her hips. "Look, I don't know if I want y-"

"Allie come on," I say cutting her off. "You want me to get to know them and be nicer? This is me getting myself out there. I'm not gonna sit here and do shit like feed chickens. I wanna actually do somethin'." I turn my back and start walking.

"Wait. If you're going take this."

"Where the hell did you get this?" I look at her wide eyed as she takes out a handgun.

"Rick. Just take it please. You'll need it more than me," she begs me to take it.

"Damn, he all ready gives ya a gun and we've barely even been here," I say trying to joke. She gives me a look and shakes her hand with the gun, emphasizing me to take it. "No, I... I can't."

"Take it!" Allie begs. I sigh, taking the gun and placing it in the front of my pants.

"'Nother search party?" I ask as I approach the group.

"Yeah what do you want?" Shane asks me With force in his tone.

"Damn I just want to help." They all look at me like 'why' or maybe more like 'no'. "Look do you want my help or not?" They look around at each other then back at me.

"She's pretty damn good with those knives," Daryl points out, looking down at them clipped on my belt. "I don't think she'll be a problem." They all look at Daryl like 'you better be right'.

"Okay let's go then," says Rick staring me down. We all start walking towards the woods.

"You all know your territories. Try not to cross over. Mark as much as possible with your flags." Shane tells everyone before we split up. I look around and notice everyone has grouped together in twos with Daryl being the one alone. I quietly follow him. I don't think he realized I was there until I stepped on a twig and it snapped loudly under my feet. Daryl turned around quickly crossbow drawn pointing right at me.

"Yo, chill it's me." I say with a chuckle and half smile.

"Damn, I thought I was alone." He says lowering his crossbow.

"Heh I know," I smirk. "So you got any idea where this girl might be?" Daryl stops for a second and examines me. "Somethin' ya wanna say?" He looks away quickly, shocked.

"Ya just dont seem very old ta be out 'ere helpin' us."

"What, I have to be a certain age to help y'all find a miss' girl?"

"It's jus' ya don't know 'er so why help?" he asks clearly confused.

"Look, if ya didn't want me to come then why'd ya stick up for me back there? An' I may be tough' but I ain't heartless. Now are we goin' or what?" He huffs, taken aback.

"There's a little cabin I found the other day. We'll check there first," he says, finally, taking the lead and I follow beside. "Got anythin' to defend against walkers?"

"Walkers?"

"Yeah ya know, the dead..."

"So that's what y'all have been callin' 'em?"

"What do ya call 'em?" He asks confused that there would be another word.

"Zombie? Ha I don't know," I shrug.

"Pff." He huffs shaking his head.

Walker did sound a lot better than zombie. "Just my knife and my dagger to answer your question. Oh and this," I say pulling out the gun Allie gave me. He looks at the gun then up at me. "I'd actually feel a lot better if you carried this," I say trying to hand him the gun. "I don't really like guns."

"Why's that?" I don't say anything as I grab ahold of my right side, trying to keep walking, but he asks another making me stop. "So how'd ya get so good with those knives?" His questions made me stop think back to Mark.

_"Come here girl!" Mark yelled at me. I ran my way into the kitchen and grabbed the big cutting knife. "You can't hide forever, bitch. I will find you!" I circle around back into the living room to hide behind the couch. 'Click' I knew that was the sound of him cocking his gun. A knife versus a gun? Yeah right._

_I can hear him in the room now. I quickly jump out from behind the couch and throw the knife, missing. _

_Bang!_

_I fall to the ground, blood everywhere. I see the shot in my right side. I scream in agonizing pain lying on the ground, eyes shut, but I couldn't just lie there. I had to finish him. I find every bit of strength in my body to inch my way over to my knife. As soon as I open my eyes, I notice Mark is gone. _

_He's gone..._

I can feel my body shaking, making me snap back to earth, me eyes coming back into focus. I shake my head, "what were you saying?"

"The knives... how did ya get so good with yer knives?" I stare into him.

"Practice, lots of practice," I say looking away walking, hoping he wouldn't ask the previous question again.

* * *

Finally we come up on the cabin Daryl was talking about. I was starting to wonder if he'd actually seen one. On our way there we tied a few of our flags around some trees to mark where we've been, following Shane's orders. I get my dagger out in one hand and my knife in the other, ready to walk in and strike down any walkers. Daryl walks in first. "Sophia?" I call out softly behind him.

"Shh, we gotta clear this place first," Daryl whispers back to me. Daryl goes on ahead and I stop in the first room. It looked like a baby's room. It still had a rocking chair and a crib. There's even some pictures on the little table by the chair. I walk over and pick one up. It was of a family. A beautiful family with a little baby who looked maybe a year old. Oh I would've loved to be able to have a family. But not like this, not in this world. A bang behind me frightens me making me jump, dropping the picture and breaking the front glass. Shit. What the hell? I turn around, dagger drawn. I open the cabinet slowly and bam! There's a freaking possum! Man those things are mean and ugly. I throw my knife hitting it right in the gut. It falls out of the cabinet and onto the floor.

Daryl comes rushing in, "what the hell, Shawn?" I smile at him then look down at the possum.

"You gettin' a little tired of beans?" He looks at the possum and does a little side smile at me.

"Nice. Hello dinner." He picks up the possum and pulls my dagger out handing it to me still with that side smirk. He hands out the possum, me refusing to take it. "Ya killed it, ya carry it." I give a disgusted look. "I thought ya was tough." I squint my eyes at him and yank the possum out of his hands and hold it up so I can get a look at the thing.

"Eww...," I mumble. Daryl chuckles and walks out of the room. I start to follow then he quickly turns around again almost running right into me.

"But don't do that again! Ya stick with me all right?" His smirk now gone from his face, me smiling at him. After a couple seconds I get him to smile again, "dammit girl." I laugh, slowly backing off. "It's getting late and Sophia was never here. We should get back," he says in all seriousness now. We both head out and start walking back to the farm.

***Daryl's POV***

The walk back was pretty silent for a while. We would occasionally do the whole look at each other and part smile kind of thing. What was it with this girl freaking making me do that all the time? I probably smiled more today than I have my whole life. There really was nothing in my life to smile about. Getting beat by your father is no laughing matter. I hated thinking about that. Shawn helped me forget. Even though I just met her, I really like being around her. There was just something about her that made me feel... right, made things feel right. I couldn't show it though. Daryl Dixon is not turning to a softy. No way.

"Hey. Ya all right?" She asks me furrowing her eyebrows in concern.

"What?" I say a little more harsh than I expected.

"You look pretty deep in thought there. Don't look very happy." Happy? No, definitely not.

"Forget it. 'M fine," I tell her as I keep walking. I see her shrug and follow bedside me. She seemed a lot like me; quiet, not much of a talker, but for some reason I understood why even though I had no idea what was going on. We make it back to the farm and I can see Rick, T-dog, Glenn, and Shane made it back too. Shawn immediately splits away and goes to her tent.

Rick comes up to me, "you find anything out there today?"

"Not a thing." I say as head off to my own tent.

I lay there thinking about my time in the woods with Shawn. No, shit. I can't be thinkin' about some damn girl I just met! What would Merle say?

"_What now ya fond of little girls baby brother?"_

Pff little girl? She ain't no little girl. I didn't know how old she was, but did it matter in this world?

* * *

So many things flood through my mind as I lay there in my tent; this new group, Mark, finding the little girl, Daryl... Why in the hell was I thinking about him? "Stop it, girl. Ya just met," I tell myself. I realized if I just lay here, that's all I'm going to think about. I decide to go out and help Lori and Allie with some things. As soon as I step out of my tent, of course I'm greeted by Shane.

"Where you headed off to in such a hurry?" he asks coming up next to me.

"Just leave me Shane. Not now, please."

"No hey what's wrong?" He insists that I answer, pulling my arm and getting in my face. "What's wrong?" I look down at his hand white knuckling on my arm.

"Shane I said not now." Now I really am angry. For some reason this guy reminded me of Mark. I couldn't deal with it... with him. I try to break free of his grip, but with every yank I pull he regrips even tighter.

I'm almost crying now. "Shane just let go!" Suddenly I realize I'm free of Shane when I see Glenn on the ground fighting with him. I briskly walk away from the situation. I hear Rick behind me yelling to break up the fight.

Daryl comes running up to me, "hey what the hell happened?" I don't say anything. I don't even look at him. I keep walking and storm off into the woods with nothing but my knives and my thoughts. I feel bad blowing Daryl off like that, but he's the last person I want to see right now. He's the one person I don't feel like explaining everything to because I know it'll only hurt talking about it... especially to him.

* * *

I'm alone now in the woods. It's starting to get late, but I decide not to go back quite yet. I still needed some more time to myself. I take out a cigarette that I kept secret in my pocket. I just stood there and stared at it. I don't smoke regularly, but I have been more and more ever since this apocalypse started. I'm just about to light it up when I see a few walkers heading in my direction. I counted at least six of them. I frantically look around for a tree to climb so I don't have to worry about fighting them off, but it's getting too dark and I can barely see the trees. It would be too dangerous to try and climb. I hide behind one of them with my dagger in hand hoping they wouldn't see me. Once I think they've all passed I come out in the open and head towards camp, I know I needed to thank Glenn for earlier.

One of the walkers grabs me and I fall to the ground making my dagger slip out of my hand and out of reach. My arms reach up to the walker's neck to stop it from chowing it's teeth into my skin. I find the strength to kick it off of me and I start to back up as quickly as possible finding my way to my feet. I can just barely see the walker coming for me with only the moonlight as my guide. I frantically start looking for my dagger, the walker coming closer and closer.

I dig my hands in my pockets... my other knife! It's not there! "Oh of course it's not!" I yell at myself. I guess it fell out of my pocket when I came crashing to the ground. I didn't want to have to use my gun, but I take it out thinking I could clock the walker in the head with the back of it. But by the time I take it out I find myself falling down to the ground one again, me struggling against the same walker as before. I'm dead, I'm so dead. Right then the weight of the walker is lightened and I can easily push it off of me. I get up and see an arrow in its head. Could it be? Please be! I turn around to see Daryl. I couldn't help but smile and run to hug him. He seems hesitant at first, but then I can feel him relax more into my body. "Thank you," I cry. "Thank you."


	5. Chapter 5: Battle Scars

**I really wanted to get the whole Mark thing done so this chapter is based a lot around that. Sorry if you don't like it. Please leave me some feedback :)**

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** Chapter 5: Battle Scars**

I was so relieved that Daryl was there to save me. I thought I was a goner. After a long, intense hug he pulled away. I thought he would start screaming at me saying something like 'what the hell were ya thinkin'?' Instead he just calmly asks, "ya all right?"

I nod, "yes." That was all I could say, still in shock.

"What the hell were ya thinkin'? Comin' out here alone?" I look up at him and sigh.

'Yup. There is it...' I think to myself. "I don't know. I just needed to blow off some steam, I guess," I say shrugging my shoulders.

Daryl takes a couple steps away from me, "what happened?"

"Just walk-," I try to say.

"No, not the walkers. With Shane?" He asks raising his eyebrows at me.

"Asshole...," I mumble at the sound of his name. I look up at Daryl who is still waiting for an answer. "He just wouldn't let me go. He grabbed ahold of my arm and wouldn't let me go. I'm just not big on touchy kinda stuff...," I say shyly, shaking my head and looking down for a second. I look back up at him and he points to himself like he's saying, 'okay, do ya not remember just huggin' me'. I give him a 'why ya starin' at me' look then realize. "Oh that... Well... I... I trust you," I cock and my head and shrug one shoulder.

"Ya just met me," he spits out.

"Well consider yaself special," I chuckle and smile.

"Huh," he breaths. "Right... Let's get ya back." We start walking in tandom back to camp when I realize my dagger and my knife are still lost somewhere.

"Oh shit! My dagger and my-," I stop and start look all over the ground.

"I'll come lookin' for them in the mornin'." He reassures me, pushing me in front of him.

When we get back to camp I notice Daryl staring me down intently probably making sure I don't run off anywhere else and that I go straight to my tent. I nod once back at him saying 'thanks again, I'm fine' and unzip the tent slowly making it as quiet as possible trying not to wake Allie. As soon as I get in she starts bombarding me with questions. So much for trying to not wake her, seems she's been awake. "What the hell happened? Where were you? Do you realize how scared I was?"

"Allie, please I'm fine and I'm tired. I just wanna go to sleep." I tell her as I'm bundling up in my sleeping bag.

"You know you really need to start talking about stuff." I can feel her eyes burning through my back.

"What is there to talk about Al?" I spit out annoyed. I know she was just worried about me, but I didn't want to deal with it at the moment.

"I know something happened with you and Mark," she says shyly.

I turn to her direction, "how?" I ask softly, trying not to raise my voice and wake everyone else sleeping.

"Back in Florida... I... I wasn't sleeping when you said it... that he did some things? To you?" she asks just barely loud enough for me to hear.

"You!..." I stand and start to scream, but then remembering everyone else. I continue, "you were _awake_?" Allie nods. "And you didn't _say_ anything?" I yell in a whisper, barely keeping in my anger.

"I'm sorry! I didn't know _what_ to say at the time. I was just so in _shock_!"

"It took _everything_ for me to _confess_ that to you!" I'm screaming now not caring about waking up the others.

"So what exactly did he do?" She asks shyly.

"Does it _matter_?! He did some shit..."

"Well yeah it matters to _me_!" Allie's screaming now. "You're my little sister!"

All I can do is shake my head. There's nothing I have to say to her and I wasn't going to just tell her what he did. I find a couple tears running down my face now. 'No! No way not now, girl! You don't cry!' I think to myself. I wipe the tears and gather myself. I grab my bag and storm out of the tent to find Rick standing right there.

"Everything okay over here?" I look back at Allie.

"Yeah, we're fine, Rick. Thank you," she tells him. I glare at her for a couple seconds before strutting away.

I walk over by Daryl's tent and notice two trees that would be perfect for setting up my hammock that I kept in my bag. As I'm tying one of the ends to a tree Daryl comes out of his tent with a little knife in his hand and raises it up like he's about to strike. I flinch a little. "What's up with the knife?" I ask partly crying.

"Thought ya was a walker. What're ya doin'?" He asks kind of rude, but then realizes I'm crying. "Hey, what's wrong with ya?"

"Nothing, just a fight with my sister is all." I say looking away, tying the other end of my hammock to the second tree. I hated when people saw me cry. I never cried, for anything. Not even when my mother died could I find the tears. People always thought there was something wrong with me cause I could never shed a tear. Maybe I am messed up. "I'm just gonna sleep in my hammock. I ain't gonna bother ya." We meet eyes before he steps back into his tent. I hop in my hammock and just lay there thinking about what Allie said. I can't believe she knew. This _whole_ time, she knew. Well I guess now I don't need to worry about telling her again.

* * *

I wake up the next morning prepared to go out with Daryl in search for Sophia. Again, another sleepless night afraid I might have my nightmares. I peek through his tent to find it empty. I hope they didn't leave without me. I gather myself and my... Oh shit! My knives are still in the woods from when I was attacked. "I wonder if Daryl got them like he said he would," I whisper to myself.

I walk by the RV and find Dale standing on the roof with his rifle slung over his shoulder, doing his daily duty of keeping watch. "Have you seen Daryl?" I call up to him.

"I saw him and the other guys getting ready to go out and look for Sophia," he replies.

"Damn," I mumble. "Okay thanks." I say walking away.

"You might be able to catch him if you hurry. They were just headed to the woods about two minutes ago!" He yells to me, but I don't stop.

I look around and see them all heading out, "hey wait! I'm coming!" I yell. I see Daryl stop and wait for me. I start running over when I hear someone calling after me.

"Shawn!"

"Dammit, Allie." I mouth.

As she approaches me she asks, "where's my gun?"

I let out a deep sigh, "I gave it to Daryl."

"Why would you do that?"

"'Cause I told ya I didn't want it," I shake my head.

"Well get it back to me, got it?"

"Shawn, let's go!" I hear Daryl call. I give one last look to Allie before running back to where Daryl stood waiting for me. When I approach him he pulls something out of his back pocket. "I believe I have somethin' of yours."

"Oh my God!" I scream out excited as he hands me my dagger and my knife.

"I found 'em in the woods this mornin', just like I said I would," he says with that half smile he always does. I smile in return saying 'thank you'. "Ya should prolly clip those on yer belt so ya don't lose 'em again," he points out. I chuckle doing as he suggests.

* * *

We walk a little beyond the cabin we searched in yesterday. We didn't walk too much further before we found a little pond. Oh how nice it would be to just jump in right now! I stand there at the water's edge when I heard Daryl yell out to me. I quickly rush over to where he stands thinking he found a trace of the little girl. "Look," he points to a huge field covered with beautiful white flowers. "It's the-"

"Cherokee rose," I say cutting him off, smiling. "I haven't seen one of these since my mom died." Daryl picks one of the flowers and holds out his hand giving me the flower. "Thanks," I smile, him half smiling back. Right then we both hear rustling in the woods not too far away from us.

My hand hovers over my dagger instinctively and I start to rush over to the noise when Daryl says, "no, stay here. I'll check it out." I walk over back to the pond and stare at the water. It wasn't the clearest, but it sure would feel nice. Forget it! I pull off my shirt exposing all my scars and gunshot wound that Mark was responsible for. I pull down my shorts throwing them on the ground and place my flower on top, leaving myself in just my bra and underwear. I run into the cold water and oh my God does it feel good. The summer, Georgia sun is so hot today. I didn't stay in long, just a quick in and out type thing. I stammer back on the bank and put my shorts back on, trying to hurry before Daryl got back. As I'm pulling my shirt over my head shirt I notice him standing there. I panic not knowing how long he's been there. Knowing he can see my battle scars rages me. He looks up and down my body. I can tell he's trying not to say anything as he slowly walks over to me.

"Ya ready?" He asks with a hard swallow. I can tell he's trying to avoid talking about what he just saw. I sigh and nod and we start walking off.

"So what did ya find in the woods?" I ask him, scared he might bring up what he saw back at the pond. He just shakes his head. We keep walking, not finding anything about Sophia. We decide to start heading back, neither of us saying anything. It was just a little too quiet between us. I speak up, "come on, Daryl. I know ya saw." I didn't really want to talk about it, but knowing he saw the scars and not saying anything definitely bothers me.

"Saw what?" I stop him dead in his tracks.

"Shit Daryl, don't do this. Ya saw! Now just say it!" I yell, wanting to cry, but can't get the urge to. He nods. I knew it.

"What's it from?" He asks sheeply. I could see on his face he all ready had an idea.

"My stepfather, Mark," I began. He breaths out loudly making me stop.

"And the gunshot?" He asks. All I can do is nod. I sigh backing away a little. We're both quiet now, hearing nothing but the wind through the trees. I can't believe I told him! Daryl of all people! I liked him! Now I had no chance of him returning the feeling. Who and why would someone like me?

***Daryl's POV***

Oh shit, I couldn't believe what I saw. It all makes sense now, everything makes sense! Why she didn't want the gun, all of it! She was like me. Should I tell her? I had to now. I just had to. "Shawn I... I'm like ya." She gives me a blank stare like a deer caught in headlights. "My father..." I look down. I couldn't believe I just told her, well I didn't really say much, but I knew that she knew what I was talking about. I haven't told anybody before and Shawn was actually one of the last people I thought I'd be tellin'. She takes the Cherokee rose in her hand and holds it out placing it in mine.

She looks up at me, her hands still holding onto mine and the rose, "It's gonna be okay." She smiles, "We have each other now." She's right. I do have her, and there was no way I was going to let anything happen to her now.

* * *

A couple hours had passed and we make it back to the farm. As soon as we make it back Carol comes running up, "anything?" Daryl and I shake our heads.

I hold out the Cherokee rose showing Carol and saying, "we'll find her." I smile and she smiles back partly crying and walks away back to camp.

I break off from Daryl not even turning in his direction and head back to my tent. As I step in to put my flower down on my sleeping bag I can hear yelling from across the way. "Pull! Pull!" I run over to see what the big commotion is. Shane, Glenn, Lori, Dale, and Andrea were all trying to hull up a huge water logged walker out of the water well. As it gets to the top the walker's body gets stuck completely rips in half with blood and intestines pouring out all over the ground. The bottom half of the walker falls back in the well along with most of the blood and organs. Maggie and T-dog are standing there with a disgusted look at their faces. I don't blame them, this one was pretty damn gross.

"Well _that's_ good for the water," I blurt out sarcastically.

"We were _trying_ to get it out to save the water," Lori says.

"Yeah I... I got that." I chuckle.

"We had Glenn down there strapped to the rope at first for live bait, but that didn't go over so well," Andrea informs me.

"No, no it _didn't_," Glenn chimes in.

"Is someone gonna kill it or are we just gonna look at it?" Shane asks when suddenly T-dog runs up to it with an axe and starts bashing it's head with it over and over. I cringe and see Maggie walking away. I run over and join her.

"Haven't really seen _that_ before I bet, huh?"

"No not exactly," she replies clearly still on edge about the situation. I let out a laugh and she stops to turn and stare me down before vigorously walking back to the house.

* * *

The rest of the afternoon was quiet with not much really going on. I sit on my hammock with a little flat rock I found by the pond and start sharpening my knives. Daryl walks up with a string pull of squirrels hung over his shoulder, "ya hungry? I got all these squirrels here and we still have that possum from yesterday we gotta cook up."

"Sounds great," I say. "Did ya hear about the walker in the well?" I ask him, starting a fire.

"Yup. Doesn't sound like they handled it too smart." I laugh. He stares at me eventually laughing himself. "Damn, nice fire ya got there," he comments, watching it burn.

I let out a laugh, "yeah imma pretty big pyro." He half smiles.

"So what happened with ya and yer sis?" I instantly lose my smile, hating that he asked. I looked up at him and he could tell. "Okay, never mind," He says, handing me a stick of squirrel and possum meat.

"Is this possum still good to eat?" I asked as I hesitantly started taking a bite.

"Mhmm," he replies taking a huge mouthful.

"Not too shabby." It really wasn't bad at all. If it kept us alive during a zombie apocalypse then it was good.

"Want more?" He asks noticing my empty stick. I shake my head as I climb in my hammock, shutting my eyes and almost instantly falling asleep.


	6. Chapter 6: Bucky

**Sorry this chapter is short and sucks. For some reason I had a really hard time writing this one. Please leave reviews, any and all are welcome! **

* * *

**Chapter 6: Bucky**

_Slash! "You should've died, girl! Should've died with your mom in that accident!" Mark screams at me as he pushes me against the wall and slashes my back with a belt. After about the tenth hit I can feel the blood start to run down my back. _

_He turns me around forcefully, "did you hear me?!" He asks screaming in my face. I stand there looking into his eyes thinking how much I hated this man. Suddenly I find myself on the floor from a hard fisted blow to the face._

* * *

I jolt awake in a cold sweat almost falling out of my hammock. I notice Daryl staring at me. "Bad dream?" He asks squinting his eyes, not really wanting to look at me.

"Mark..." I hear him sigh as he walks over to me reaching out slowly to put his hand behind my neck, rubbing it. I sigh and smile, "thank you."

"For what?" He asks confused.

"You always know how to make me feel better," I tell him looking up into his beautiful blue eyes. He smiles his amazing half smile, turning away to grab his crossbow. "Hey where ya goin'?" I ask as he walks away.

He turns back around, "I'm goin' off on my own today. Thought I'd take a horse and search more by the pond we found." I nod in agreement and watch him as he gets smaller in the distance.

I decide I'm going to stay at camp today and help out with everything else going on. I look through my bag and pick out a new outfit to wear. There's not much to choose from I only have three shirts, a black undershirt, a pair of jeans, and shorts. I hop in Daryl's tent and throw on my jeans and my undershirt with my neon yellow lace shirt overtop. I grab my knives and walk towards the rest of the group. As I'm walking I see Daryl galloping off on a beautiful palomino horse and Rick and the others disappearing into the woods.

* * *

"So what's goin' on over here?" I ask to no one in particular. Everyone looks over at me with awkward stares.

"Oh so you decided to join _us_ today?" I heard Allie ask.

"Yeah, I guess so. Anythin' I can help with?"

"Glenn and I are going for a pharmacy run, if you wanna come?" Maggie asks walking over to me.

"We are?" Glenn asks confused, looking back and forth to me and Maggie.

"I hear you're quick on your feet and know how to get in and out." I glance back and forth at them both.

"Yeah, he's pretty good. Right, Glenn?" I ask looking to him and raising my eyebrows.

He slowly nods, "Uh... yeah sure."

"All right, then. Let's do this," I respond. Allie gives me that same look she always gives me when I say I'll go on a suicide run because that's practically what they are. She has to stop doing that. I can take care of myself, I have for a long time.

"I'll go saddle the horses," Maggie says turning to walk to the barn.

"Umm.. horses?" Glenn asks not very enthused. I chuckle and run to meet up with Maggie.

"Hey, I'll help," I tell her. We approach the barn and Maggie heads straight to one of the horses.

She notices the stall next door is empty, "where's Bucky?"

"Um I guess that's the one Daryl took," I say quietly not sure if she'd be mad.

She shakes her head, "my father isn't going to be very happy about that. You can take that one there." She points to a beautiful paint horse. "Here's your saddle. You know how to do it?"

"Yeah I got it. I usedta ride all the time," I inform her. As I start grooming my horse, which I catch the name as Patch, Maggie gets out two others, one for her and Glenn. We finish saddling the horses when Glenn comes in the barn.

"We about ready?"

"Yup," Maggie and I both say. I walk Patch out of the barn and mount up. Immediately Patch starts trotting away. I halt him and look back to see Glenn having some trouble mounting his horse, almost falling off the other side. All I can do is laugh. "Come on, cowboy!" I yell back jokingly. Finally Maggie and Glenn come cantering to meet me.

"Let's ride!" I say excitedly. It felt so good to be up on a horse again. I haven't ridden since about middle school when my mom put me in lessons. It's one of those kind of things that comes right back. We walk our horses up to the abandoned pharmacy and tie them out front. Before heading inside I give Patch a kiss on the nose and a pat on the neck. I follow in behind Glenn and Maggie, both of them going straight for things they needed. There isn't anything in particular that I need so I hang out and watch for walkers. I see Glenn go straight for the female hygiene section. What the hell was he doing there? He pick up a box, a particular box. Why the hell would he need that? He catches me staring and I quickly look away pretending I don't notice.

"We should probably head out," Maggie says coming out of one of the isles. "I saw a couple of those things out back."

"Let's move then," I agree.

We get back to the barn, Maggie and I start untacking the horses. I see Glenn rushing off to camp with a little baggie. I'm guessing that box is inside. I leave Maggie and hurry over to where Glenn is, trying to keep myself from being seen. I hide behind a tree and poke my head out seeing Glenn walk up to Lori. Yes, I know, I'm nosy, but what else is there to do in a zombie apocalypse other than snoop around in other people's business. He hands her the bag and she takes out the box. A pregnancy test? Lori? "...thank you Glenn," she tells him quietly. Glenn quickly struts off in the distance like nothing happened. I wonder if Rick knew. Probably not if they're trying to be so secret. I shake off what I just saw and walk back to my hammock.

I see Rick and the others returning from their long search for Sophia and realize Daryl was still gone. I run over to Rick's search party, "Where's Daryl?" I ask them. "He left on a horse this mornin' for the search." I try not to ask too many questions, making them notice how interested I am in the guy.

"I don't know. We didn't see him out there," T-dog tells me. I sigh, starting to feel worried.

Rick steps up to me, putting a hand on my shoulder, "I'm sure he'll be back soon." I nod and they all walk back to camp.

* * *

I head over to the house and see Hershel outside talking to Maggie. "Shawn said Daryl took him," I heard her say as I get closer to them.

"Tell them to ask me if they can borrow a horse next time," Hershel commands his daughter.

"I'll let him know, sorry about the confusion," I chime in. Hershel sighs in frustration when all of the sudden we see a horse run across the field with no rider.

"That's Bucky," Hershel says. "Maggs..." He nods to the horse and Maggie runs over to stop him. I snap my head in Hershel's direction, worried.

Daryl...

"Shawn, where's Daryl?" Rick comes up to me, the other follow closely behind.

"Uh... _Exactly_ my question to you!"

"Sophia? What about Sophia?" Carol asks. They all shake their heads to all the questions. Really lady? If they know something about your girl, they will tell you. Right now Daryl is out there missing!

"Daryl didn't say where he was going?" Shane asks annoyed.

"Yes," I say softly. 'The pond, our pond', I think to myself.

"Earth to Shawn... where did he say?" Andrea said snapping her fingers in my face.

"I'll go find him," I blurt out.

"Not by yourself, you can't," Lori begs me. I see everyone nodding their heads in agreement with her.

"I have to go! Just me!" I scream to them. They won't understand why it has to be just me, they never would understand. That's our special place, mine and his. "Y'all just have to trust me that I'll come back safely with him," I say, Allie giving me that look again.

"Fine, let her go," Shane tells everyone. "She wants to go." I glare at Shane, really hating the guy. I stroll off with my right hand on my knives clipped to my belt. I can feel everyone's eyes burning into my back as I walk away. I start to jog as I think more and more about Daryl and the condition he could be in. He has to be okay, he has to.


	7. Chapter 7: Target Practice

**R&R :)**

* * *

**Chapter 7: Throwing Practice**

"Daryl?!" I call out as I come to the pond. I pace over to the field of Cherokee roses and notice some hoof tracks in a dirt area. I follow the tracks and come to a big drop off into a stream that's almost dried up. I look around and spot Daryl lying in the little bit of water there was with a walker tugging at his leg. "Oh my God! Daryl!" I yell down to him, catching the walkers attention. He doesn't move. I take out my knife and throw it down to the walker, missing and almost hitting Daryl's leg. "Oh _seriously, _Shawn?..." I say to myself annoyed. "Hey! Ugly ass!" I call to the walker as it starts moving towards the bank, it's arms reaching up to try to grab me. I now take dagger and position it in my hand throwing it to stick in the walker's neck. "Good enough...," I mumble. I run down a little ways out of the way of the walker and stumble down to Daryl.

When I get down to the ravine I run over to Daryl finding the first knife, throwing it and finally taking the walker down. "Daryl?" I plead as I inspect his leg to make sure the walker didn't chow into him. "Daryl get up!" I shake him having him yell out in pain. I then notice the arrow in his left side. "What did you _do_?..."

He finally looks at me, "hey...,"

"Daryl there's not time for hey's right now. Can you stand?" He struggles to get up, but finally coming to his feet. I see a couple walkers heading right towards us, "um Daryl?" They're too close for me to run over to the dead walker with my knives. "My knives... I can't...," I try to say.

"The arrow...," he says motioning to the arrow that sticks out of his body.

"Are ya crazy? Ya want meta pull it out?!"

"Just do it!"

I cringe at the thought, "I'm sorry...," I say just before yanking out the arrow in his flesh with Daryl screaming out in pain. He grabs the arrow from my hand and loads it into his crossbow, shooting down the closest walker and giving me time to retrieve my dagger and knife. I run to the last walker and jab my dagger in its brains.

"Shawn! Let's get the hell outta here!" Daryl yells at me. I turn around and run back to where he stands. "Aww hell..." he mumble, looking behind me.

"You just go, I got 'em," I tell him, looking back at the walkers. He hesitates, "just _go_, Daryl!" He starts to scream out in pain as he climbs back up the ravine. I run over to the other side of the stream distracting the walkers from Daryl, splashing water at them and yelling at them. I run into the woods not really knowing where I'm going as the walkers trail after me. I try to make a big circle to come back to the stream where I can head back up the bank, but I can't seem to shake off these walkers. I look back and find two more walkers joining the three I all ready had following me. I'm getting tired, but I can't stop. I push on to run just a bit faster finally coming back to the stream. I glance behind me quickly and see nothing. I charge up the bank with difficulty all ready exhausted from running for what seemed like forever. My arms and legs start giving out half way up the bank. I stop. "I guess I should've done more rock climbing with Allie..." I whisper to myself.

Bang!

A gunshot rang through the woods coming from the direction of the farm. With my adrenaline now pumping, I start to climb again finally reaching the top with my fingertips. I hoist myself up and catch a breath. I run back to camp taking down a couple walkers in my way. I see Shane and Rick dragging a limp Daryl up to the house with Andrea standing there with a shotgun in her hands. Oh my God. "What did you _do_?!" I scream running towards Andrea, pushing her. She stands there in complete shock. "What did you _do_?!" I scream again.

"Shawn stop," T-dog says holding me back.

"It just grazed his head-," Andrea tries to reassure me.

"Just _grazed_ his _head_?! That's supposed to make me _feel_ better?!" I struggle to break free of T-Dog's grip, finally shaking him off. I sprint to the house, all ready exhausted and out of breath from running through the woods.

"He's inside. First bedroom at the left, down that hall," Beth explains to me as I rush up the stairs to the front porch. I hurry inside and find Daryl lying on his side facing away from the door, Hershel stitching up the spot where the arrow once was.

"This didn't come out clean," he says.

Daryl's squinting his eyes in pain, "yeah, Shawn hadta pull it out real quick to kill a walker."

"It's going to take a lot of time for the muscle and tissue underneath to heal," Hershel states as he finishes the last stitch. "Just take it easy for a couple days so you don't break the stitches," he says leaving, smiling at me and patting my back on his way out. "Oh and the bandage on your head needs to stay there for at least two days."

I walk over closer to Daryl and his back grabs my attention as I see the scars that cover him. I try to ignore it, walking to the other side and sit in the chair next to the bed. He notices me and quickly pulls up the sheet to cover his body. "How do you feel?" I ask all ready knowing he probably feels like shit, but I thought I'd ask anyways.

"'Bout as good as I look." He says almost as if he doesn't want me there. I catch the hint and stand up to leave.

"Hey where ya...," he begins but gets interrupted by pain as Hershel pulls on a stitch. "Where ya going?"

"Doesn't really seem like ya want me here," I say trying to stay quiet with Hershel still being right there.

"I didn't say tha-," he grunts as Hershel pulls another stitch. "I didn't say that," he says looking up at me. "Just sit ya ass back down." I smile down at him and take my seat next to the bed.

"I'm sorry," I say quietly looking down.

"For what?" He asks placing his hand under his head to sit up a little.

"I don't know, for _this_, this happening to ya," I utter quietly, still looking down.

"Hey...," Daryl says repositioning his body a little.

"You have to stay still," Hershel orders him.

"This ain't yer fault. Ya found me, didn't ya?" Daryl contintues, rolling eyes at Hershel's request. I shrug, folding my arms, at Daryl's question. I wish that I could've done more to help him.

'What _else_ would ya have done?' I question myself. I shake my head answering my own question.

"What?" Daryl asks gruffly, making a face as Hershel pulls the last stitch.

"Okay, that should be good. Remember to take it easy," Hershel says standing up and walking out with his medical supplies in hand.

Daryl sighs in frustration, "rest, rest, rest. That's what people keep telling me." I give him a look like 'well uh _yeah_ ya need to'. I stand again and try to walk out with Hershel so Daryl can get his rest. "Where do ya think yer goin'? Ya never answered my question."

"Question?"

"Ya, I asked ya what... Ya were obviously thinkin' about _somethin_'," he reminds me.

"Uh yeah, it's nothin'," I say, Daryl glaring hard at me. "Just get some _rest,_ okay?" I wink as I walk out.

"Bitch...," he mumbles.

"I heard that!" I yell back to the room, laughing.

* * *

"Where're the apples?" I ask aimlessly as I approach the kitchen.

"In that basket on the table," an innocent, little voice answers. I turn my head and find Beth standing by the kitchen sink with Maggie. I raise up an apple and nod to thank them. I jog over to the barn so I don't get stopped by curious people.

"Hey buddy," I sweet talk to Patch, scratching his face. "Ya hungry?" He takes a big chuck of the apple as I hand it out to him. I let him chew for a couple seconds then give him the rest of the apple, scratching his face again. "I'll see ya later, boy."

I walk out annoyed with myself that I almost missed that walker _twice_ today in the woods. I could've hit Daryl! I almost _did_! I walk over to my hammock and plop in, crossing my legs and putting my arms under my head for support. I examine the tree ahead of me, unclipping my knife and throwing it at the tree making a target right above where my hammock is tied. I sigh, taking out my dagger and positioning it in my hand, ready to throw. I close my left eye and aim for right next to the knife. Throwing with force, the dagger completely misses the tree to the ride side. "Oh, _really_ Shawn?" I sit up and just stare at the dagger sticking out of the ground. 'What the hell is wrong with me?'

"Cool! Can I try?" I hear young voice come in front of me. I look up and see Carl standing there smiling in amazement.

"Ya gotta be careful, buddy, bein' around me when I'm throwing' my knives," I say getting out of my hammock to retrieve my jnives, clipping them back on my belt.

"Will you teach how to do that?" He asks.

"I don't know about that, kid," I say shaking my head.

"Please?" He begs.

I kneel down to get eye to eye with the boy, "maybe I'll talk to your mom and dad about it, okay?" He nods and struts away back to camp.

* * *

I stand there watching the boy walk back to the rest of the group as I catch Glenn walking alone heading towards the RV. I still had to thank him for the whole Shane thing the other day. "Hey!" I yell to him, coming up beside him. "Thanks."

"For what?" He asks looking at me.

"For stopping Shane the other day."

"Oh that, it's nothing. I know he can be a jerk sometimes." He shrugs a shoulder.

"Ha, yeah," I say nodding. "Well thanks."

"You're welcome," he smiles.


	8. Chapter 8: Secrets

**Oh goodness! I was so scared to post this chapter :p It was difficult for me to write, but it was fun ^_^ enjoy! R&R!**

* * *

**Chapter 8: Secrets**

The look on Glenn's face said nothing but 'I know something you don't'. I all ready knew about the whole Lori thing, but this was something bigger than that. He was trying to say 'this _isn't_ good'. Now, I'm not one for making people tell what's up, but his face screamed this is _important_! I could see he wants to tell what's going on, but he was going to make me ask. Before he has a chance to turn away I ask him what happened. "What? There's nothing going on," he said innocently enough, but not enough for me.

"Come on, Glenn. I know I haven't known ya that long, but I can tell _somethin's_ happened."

"Well if I tell you, you might tell everyone else," he says, clearly upset that I asked.

"I _promise _I won't tell," I reassure him, putting a hand on his shoulder. He looka up at me with that questioning look in his eyes. 'Why would he tell you?' I think in my head. 'He wouldn't tell...'

"There's kinda walkers in that old barn," he confesses, interrupting my thoughts.

I squeeze his shoulder hard, making him wince. "There's _what_?!" I demand.

"Shh!" He hushes me, looking around to make sure no one is looking. "I was walking by it and heard the moans. I started to keep walking, but then decided to peek inside through the cracks to make sure. Please, you promised you wouldn't tell," he begs and I drop my hand from his shoulder.

"No, I won't. Because _you_ are!" I say, staring deeply into his Asian eyes. "They all haveta know! Ya can't just leave somethin' like that alo-."

"I know, I know!" He yells cutting me off.

"So then you'll do it, _tonight_!" I say walking off, not giving him a chance to talk again.

* * *

"Oh my God," I mouth quietly to myself as I sit by the fire I just made by Daryl's tent. "He better tell, he better freakin' te-."

"Who tell what?" Daryl asks coming up behind me, making me jump. "Damn, didn't mean to scare ya." He sets his crossbow on the ground and plops down beside it.

I huff, "ya _didn't_." I say harshly, maybe a little too harsh, poking a stick in the fire. He throws his hands up in surrender.

"So what were ya going on about a couple minutes ago?"

"_Nothin_' all right?!" I snap. He quickly stands back up to his feet and begins to unzip his tent behind him. I reach up and grab his free arm making him stop. "I'm sorry," I say, dropping my hand. "I didn't meanta be all snappy. I'm jus' kinda taken aback a little by the crazy events of today, ya know?" Daryl turns back around and sits back down in the same spot. I look up at him quickly remembering everything that just happened to him. "Hey! What the hell are ya doin' out of the house?! And you should still have that bandage on your head!" I yell at him, reaching my hand up to caress above where the gunshot wound is.

"'M fine!" He pulls his body away, telling me to leave it. "I couldn't be in that _room_ any longer," he says coming back to an upright position.

"Daryl, ya weren't even in there a whole like two hours," I look in his eyes shaking my head.

He shrugs, "so?"

"So ya need to still be _restin_'. Your stitches are still heal-."

"Yeah, yeah. I got it," he says waving a hand. I sigh, looking up and seeing everyone gather around camp. "What's goin' on over there?" He asks, nodding his head up in the direction of camp. I knew exactly what was going on, or at least I hoped that's what was happening.

"Glenn...," I mumble.

"What?" He asks tilting his head forward in confusion.

"Come on, let's go."

* * *

The sun has completely set now, revealing the full moon and billions of starts. Being here on Hershel's farm, you could see just about every star possible with no light pollution around. Every constellation was so clear and easily depicted. Good night as any, I thought, to confess to everyone mine and Glenn's big secret. "Hey guys? There's something I should probably tell you." No one says a word, they just wait patiently for Glenn to contiue. Before he says anything else he looks over at the house and catches Maggie shaking her head at him. He looks back at me and I nod, counteracting what Maggie has just requested.

"Go on, Glenn," Dale tells him.

"Well there's... there's walkers help up in that old barn." I stand beside Daryl, looking around at everyone to see their reactions, seeing nothing but horroa and shock. I finally come back around to glance up at Daryl, who is now glaring fiercely at me. "Somebody please say something," Glenn begs.

"When did you find this out?" Rick asks as calmly as possible.

"I just noticed today when I was walking by it."

Rick nods, "okay we'll take care of it tomorrow. Right now we should all get some sleep."

"How are we supposed to sleep knowing there's _walkers_ in the barn, Rick?" Shane bursts into conversation.

"We can survive one more night. Just let me figure this out!" Rick yells at Shane.

Shane, Dale, and Andrea all storm off to the RV while Rick, Lori, Carl, T-dog, and Allie climb into their tents. I nod to Glenn telling him he did the right thing. He nods back and walks off to join Dale and the others. I turn to my left and realize Daryl isn't standing by me anymore. I look back in the direction of his makeshift camp and see him storming away.

"Daryl! Wait up!" I call to him, running to catch up.

He turns around quickly, making me stop dead in my tracks. "Ya _knew_?!"

"What?" I asked confused.

"Oh _don't_ play that card with me!"

"Would ya just calm the _hell_ down?" I yell, raising my hands up to my head like I've had enough.

"Ya knew... about the walkers in the barn...," he more states than asks. I nod, wide eyed, shrugging my shoulders. "Ya didn't _say_ anythin'? Not to anyone?"

"I promised Glenn I wouldn't tell anybody. And I wasn't _gonna_ anyways cause I told him _he_ should do it. And he _did_ so why does it matter that I knew? I _literally_ just found out like a couple hours ago," I explain to him.

"Pff, unbelievable," he shakes his head. "Ya coulda told _me_! I told ya about my _father_, which I haven't told _anybody_ about, and ya can't even tell me about a bunch a freakin' _walkers_ in a barn?!"

"We'll I'm _sorry_, Daryl, but when I _promised_ Glenn I wouldn't say _anythin_' to _nobody_... I _meant_ nobody!" He storms off into his tent and I rush off to my hammock.

"Stupid redneck asshole," I mutter to myself as I lie there in my hammock. My brain couldn't handle anymore thoughts about what just happened, or about Daryl. 'Stop it, Shawn! Don't ya _dare_ be thinkin' about the guy ya just called a stupid redneck asshole! That's what he is...'. I close my eyes with nothing but my thoughts about him and slowly drift off to sleep.


	9. Chapter 9: You Are The Only Exception

**Want another chapter? Well here ya go! I'm going camping this weekend and next week is crazy with college crap so I wouldn't be able to post another chapter for like 2 weeks. So sorry if this is short, I really wanted to get more in this chapter, but it'll just have to go in next chapterrrrrrr. R&R! Thanks loves! **

**And seriously if you don't like anything please tell me! I know there's kinda a lot of things I didn't put in my story from the show, but I did do that for a reason. :P But yeah if you want anything added from the show let me know and I'll be sure to put it in! And sorry if this chapter like sucks :p**

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN "the only exception" by paramore!**

* * *

**Chapter 9: You Are The Only Exception**

I wake up with a big thrash of my hammock, sending me to the ground. "Ooof!" I yell as I crash to the ground, looking up to see Hershel's oldest daughter, Maggie staring down at me, hands on hips. "What the hell, Maggie?!" I scream, finding myself back on my feet.

"I _told_ you not to tell!" She yells, dropping her arms and crossing them in front of her chest, getting in my face.

"What the _hell_ ya _talkin_' about?!" I scream backing up with Maggie stepping closer.

"The _barn_!"

"Okay, ya never told me _shit_!"

"I shook my head last night at Glenn! I _know_ you saw me!"

"Well _sorry_, Maggie, but _I'm_ just lookin' out for my group!"

"Ha!" She makes a single laugh, throwing her head back. "_Your_ group?!" I stare at her not believing what she just said. I was apart of this group, now. Right?

'Maybe she's right, Shawn', I think so myself. "Glenn _did_ what he _had_ to," I speak up.

"Well if _your_ group does _anything_ to the people in the barn, my father will kick you off the farm _tonight_!" She threatens.

"_People_? Ya _seriously_ think those things are _people_?" She nods. "Wow, okay so you're tellin' me that ya can look at one of those _things_ and see all the _blood_ and shit and still tell me it's a _livin_' person...?" She nods again. "Wow. Ya seriously senile!" I say shaking shaking my head and walking off hoping she won't follow me. I take a long walk around the outskirts of camp thinking about my argument with Maggie. I couldn't believe what she said. People? How the hell can anyone look at those deadly things as people? I think she's alone on that thought except for her crazy father.

"Hey, Shawn!" I hear someone calling to me.

"Oh for shit's _sake_!" I yell to myself. "What?!" I scream turning around to find Daryl walking away. Dammit. "Wait, Daryl! I'm sorry!" He keeps walking. "_Fuck_!" I start running to him. When I reach him I reach out to grab his arm. "Daryl..."

"Ya know, ya really are a piece a work," he spits.

"_What_?"

"Ya _might_ wanna make sure ya know who it is before ya just blow 'em off."

"I wasn't _blowin_' ya off. I was just _mad_."

"Mhmm, I got that." He sighs, breaking our gaze. "I saw ya talkin' to Maggie earlier."

'More like yellin' and screamin'.' I think. "Uh... yeah. She was mad that I told everyone about the barn."

"But ya didn't," he points out.

"Well in a way yeah cause I knew."

"No one knows ya knew." I nod somewhat, agreeing with what he's trying to say.

"Yeah well, now Maggie and her family probably _hate_ me," I say, Daryl looking at me funny.

"Ya don't cross me as the kind who cares if people hate ya." He's right. I really don't care what people think about me. I was always the loner girl all throughout school. Yeah, I had all my friends, but somehow I still accomplished to be the outsider.

"Yeah, you're right about that one."

"Then why do ya care?" He asks, pretty much begging for an answer.

I look up at him, really studying his eyes, getting lost in his stare. Damn, I have to say this man is gorgeous. "I... I don't." I studder. Suddenly he reaches his arm up and grabs ahold of the side of my face.

"Good," he whispers, caressing my cheek with his thumb. I feel a slight pull on my face as we slowly get closer and closer. I can feel his warm breath on my lips. We briefly make contact when yelling back at camp pulls us apart. "Shit, now what?" He mumbles, letting go of my face.

"What is _that_?!" Shane running and yelling with the rest of the group following behind. I look in the direction they're heading and see Hershel and Rick coming out of the woods with walkers on snag poles.

"What the hell?" I mutter, starting to unclip my dagger instinctly at the sight of a walker. "We should prolly go check it out," I tell Daryl. We rush over to join the rest of the group gathering around the old barn. "Daryl...," I say shakily. "What... what do we do?" He pulls me in tight to his side for a second for comfort then letting me go. I see Allie coming up next to me and we hug each other tight. Shane takes out his gun and starts going on a rant pacing back and forth. I get distracted as I stare at the walker Hershel has, trying to understand how Maggie can see these ugly bastards as people.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

I jump coming out of my trance as Shane shoots three blows to the chest at Hershel's walker. "That's three rounds to the chest! Someone who's alive, can they just take that? Why's it still coming? That's its heart, it's lungs! Why's it still coming?!"

"Shane, stop!" Rick screams as he fights with the walker on the pole. "That's enough!"

Shane fires three more rounds at the walker with Hershel barely being able to hold onto it. "Yeah, you're right man. That is enough," Shane says walking closer to the walker and shooting it right in the head making it fall along with Hershel; kneeling alongside the walker that was just put down. Maggie and Beth hurry to their father. "If you wanna survive, you gotta fight for it! Right here, right now!" Shane screams to everyone before turning around and running towards the barn door with a pick ax. He starts beating the lock, trying to break it.

"Shane, brother, stop it!" Rick yells, begging to Shane still holding onto the other walker with the snag pole. I couldn't believe what was happening. Finally Shane swings one final blow to the barn door, making the lock break and fall to the ground. A sea of walkers push open the door slightly and limp straight towards us. Shane fires one shot to Rick's walker making it fall instantly before lining up with Glenn, Andrea, T-dog, and Daryl to put out the walkers. I notice the gun Allie gave me on Daryl's belt and run over to him, taking it off his belt and joining in with the killing spree.

"Shawn...!" I hear Allie yelling after me, but I don't turn. The last walker is put down and we all stand there in shock, Daryl looking over at me. I can hear sobs from behind me, probably Maggie and Beth since we just took out what once was their family. We start walking away when suddenly there's a little growl coming from the barn. We all turn back around and I see a little girl stumbling out.

"Sophia...?" Carol cries behind me. I turn and see her running for the barn when Daryl wraps his arms around her, catching her and slowly bringing her to the ground.

'Oh no,' I cry to myself. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. This group spent days looking for this little girl and she was here this whole time. And poor Carol! I can't even imagine going through something like that! I step back and Rick comes forward, slowly raising his gun.

"No! Rick...!" Carol screams.

Bang!

Sophia falls.

Most everyone's in tears now, even little Carl for the loss of Sophia. "Don' look," Daryl tells Carol, getting her to her feet. She pushes him away and storms off. I see Beth run over to the sea of dead walkers. She pushes a walker off of another, exposing what I believe to be her step-mother. Beth begins to stroke her stepmom's hair when the walker quickly reaches up and grabs Beth from behind the neck. She starts screaming and I run forward to stab it in the head with my knife making the arms of the walker go limp, everyone else right there for backup. I scramble Beth up in my arms, Maggie pushing me away from her and guiding her and Hershel back to the house. Shane, the rest of the group, and I follow behind.

"You're telling me you knew she was there all along?!" Shane screams at Hershel as he and his daughters walk up the steps to the house.

"We didn't know!" Maggie yells back, not looking at him.

"Right... of course you didn't." Rick grabs his arm to stop him, but Shane pushes forward.

"Just _back_ off! Haven't you done enough?!" She eyes the man up and down.

"I want you off my farm! _Tonight_!" Hershel yells at us before following his daughters inside, slamming the front door behind him.

* * *

"Hey, Al!" I yell to her. She stops and turns. I reach down to the gun I still had on my belt. "Here," I say handing it out to her. "I don't ever want it back." She nods and takes the gun, slipping it in the front of her pants.

"Allie, come on and help us out!" Andrea calls over as her, T-dog, and Shane are lifting walker bodies into the back of the truck. I side smile at Allie before she walks off.

I wanted to check up on Carol after what had just happened, but I couldn't spot her anywhere. "Hey, Glenn. Have ya seen Carol anywhere?"

"Not since the whole barn thing. I saw her walking off, but I don't know where."

"Right, thanks." I sigh, getting worried. Now that I think about it I haven't seen her since the barn either and that was about an hour ago now. I make my way to Allie and the others who are burning a huge pile of bodies. I ask them if they've seen Carol and they all just shake their heads. "Dale...," I say to myself, thinking I'll ask him next.

"Yeah, I see her right over there," he yells from atop the RV, pointing over to a field of wild flowers.

"Carol? Stop!" I yell to her as she sits on the ground, frantically pulling at the flowers. "Carol!" I yell again, grabbing her arm and making her stop. "It's okay, it's okay," I shush her. Suddenly she wraps her arms around my neck hiding her face in my shoulder. Im really not one for touchy feely shit, but I understood that she needed someone to just simply be there for her. I can feel her tears soaking through my shirt, now. I slowly pull myself away. "Let's get ya back to camp, yeah?" She nods in agreement and we stand to head back to the rest of the group. When we get back everyone is standing around looking like they're fixing to have some kind of meeting.

"There you two are," Lori says relieved.

"Okay, now that we're all here I wanted to talk about that happened today," Rick begins.

"The hell is there to talk about? Shane's a jackass and completely went off the deep end," I blurt out, not letting Rick finish.

"All right, lets not get caught up on that. You joined in the shooting, too," Andrea brings on me.

"Yes, because it was the right thing to do at _that_ moment. But _none_ of that had to happen that way, but your man _Shane_ here...," I stick my head out in his direction. "...is a complete and utter-"

"You really wanna finish that?" He asks harshly, walking in my direction.

"Yeah actually I _do_!" I spit back stepping closer to him.

"Okay, that's enough," Rick steps between us and I walk back, meeting Daryl at his side. "Now, we all ready have the 'others' burning and the loved ones buried so we'll have a little service this evening at sunset for Hershel's family and Sophia." We all nod. "Right, that's it."

* * *

I head to the RV to check up on Carol. "How are ya feeling?" I ask. 'Stupid question... she just lost her daughter, Shawn!' I think to myself with an awkward face.

"Hanging in there, I guess," she finally says.

"We'll make Sophia's service tonight really nice, I promise."

"Carol, honey?" Lori calls stepping into the RV. "Why don't you come help me with some laundry? Get your mind off things?" She slowly nods, smiling to me before walking out with Lori, leaving me in the RV alone.

I sit at the table and notice the sign on the wall that says "how about a nice cup of shut the hell up". I laugh to myself thinking of old family inside jokes, before my mom died, before Mark. Things were good, life was livable. I glance at the back where the bed is and see a guitar! It was old and beat up, but oh my God, I miss music, miss playing. I pick it up and sit on the bed. I strum a G chord and hear it's way out of tune. I take a couple minutes to tune it and strum the chord again, smiling at the sound. "Oh you, you play?" I look up fast, putting the guitar down, at the sound of the voice. I didn't even hear anyone come in. "No, don't stop. It's nice to see someone play it. No one here knows how."

"Well I do," I chuckle, looking down at the floor. "Why do ya have a guitar if ya can't play it?"

"I found it, while we were on the road. I picked it up hoping someone would know how. I'm glad you do."

"Do ya mind if I kinda hold onto it?" I ask him shyly.

"No, of course not! Take it." I quickly grab up the guitar and push by him for the door of the RV.

"Ya don't happen to have a pick with this do ya?"

He shakes his head, "no, uh no."

I laugh a little at his awkwardness, "thanks, Glenn," I say and head out of the RV with my new guitar.

I wanted to play this guitar, but I didn't want anyone to see me with it because they'll probably just want to hear me play. I didn't play for anyone! Not even Allie. Actually, I don't even think she knows that I know how. Allie was always the musical one in the family. She sings, plays piano, and guitar. I sang, a little, I guess. I find a nicely shaded tree in the woods away from the rest of the group and sit with the guitar in my lap. "Man a pick would be nice," I say to myself before I start strumming random chords. I'm deep in thought about things as I play. Things about Mark, my mom. What things would be like if she was still here, and if this zombie apocalypse didn't happen. Then I start thinking about now, and what things would be like if Allie and I hadn't joined this group. We probably would be dead. And Daryl. I never would've met Daryl...

_When I was younger I saw my daddy cry and curse at the wind_

_He broke his own heart and I watched as he tried to reassemble it_

I start to softly sing, trying to remember the chords to the song.

_My momma swore that she would never let herself forget_

_And that was the day that I promised I'd never sing of love if it does not exist_

_But darlin' you are the only exception_

_You are the only exception, you are the only exception_

_You are the only exception_

I side smile.

_Maybe I know somewhere deep in my soul that love never lasts_

_And we've got to find other ways to make it alone or keep a straight face_

_And I've always lived like this keeping a comfortable distance_

_Up until now I had sworn to myself that I'm content with loneliness_

_Cause none of it was ever worth the risk_

_Well you are the only exception_

_You are the only exception, you are the only exception_

_You are the only exception_

I'm fully smiling now, thinking of him. I start to strum louder and belt it.

_I've got a tight grip on reality, but I can't let go of what's in front of me here_

_I know you're leaving in the morning, when you wake up_

_Leave me with some kind of proof it's not a dream_

_Ooh ooh..._

I pause and sigh, take in a deep breath...

_You are the only exception_

_You are the only exception, you are the only exception_

_You are the only exception_

_And I'm on my way to believing_

_Oh and I'm on my way to believing_

I play the final note, tears streaming down my face. What the hell, I'm crying? I wipe my face with my hands. My fingertips all ready hurt from playing, it's been forever. I hear footsteps behind me, "go away," I say thinking its Shane wanting to yell at me for earlier. I hear the steps getting closer, "I said go a-," I turn my head to the right and there's a walker lunging at me, falling into my lap. I toss the guitar out of the way and throw my arms up to stop it. I push it as hard as I can to the side bringing it to lie on it's back. I straddle over it and quickly take out my dagger and jab it in the skull. I throw myself off and check my arms for scratches. I don't see any, but there's blood everywhere. Man, walkers are nasty things. Well aren't I going to have a shitload of questions when I get back to camp. "What happened to you?" Shane would say. "Nothing, shut up, go away," I would answer. I play the whole scenario in my head as I grab up the guitar and head back to camp.


	10. Chapter 10: Oh Shit

**Ahh I don't know about this story anymore... For some reason it's hard for me to fit things in from the show. I was thinking about ditching it and starting a completely new story with my own characters, own plot, stuff like that... what do y'all think? I still may finish this, but I feel like it sucks. **

**Well I wasn't going to post till later, but I found time today to finish this chapter. So here it is...**

**R&R**

* * *

**Chapter 10: Oh Shit**

"I'm _fine_, Allie, really!" She grabs ahold of my arms and examines them for bites and scratches. I look up at her, trying to pull my arms away. Her eyes grow wider and wider, and her mouth drops in shock.

"That's a _scratch_, Shawn!" She yells, moving both her arms to take hold of my left arm. I look down and see my arm actually is bleeding. Damn what did I do? I _know _I didn't get scratched by a walker.

"It's not what you think," I try to reassure her. "It must've been my dagger." As I replay the whole scene in my head, now I'm not even sure. Dammit.

"Are you _sure_?" She questions.

"I guess we'll have to wait and see if I turn or not." She looks up at me like 'are you serious?!' "Ya keep this between us, yeah?" She nods slowly, letting go of my arm. "I'm gonna go wash up."

"What's up with the guitar?" She calls before I get too far off.

"Glenn found it. He's letting me hold onto it."

"Do you even play?" I smirk and shrug my shoulders. "Well you're just full of surprises." I bring a full smile to my face now before turning back around and walking off. On my way to the house, I stop by my hammock and Daryl's tent to drop off the guitar, looking around the area for Daryl. "Where are you?" I ask softly to myself. I end up waiting a few minutes to see if he would show up, but he never did. I hope he's okay.

* * *

"Hey, Maggie. Ya think I could wash up? Maybe get a quick shower?" I ask her, walking up the porch steps, hiding my arm againt my stomach so no one sees. Glenn sits beside her, looking at me like Maggie's been talking about me. Great now Glenn hates me too, 'but ya don't _care_, remember, Shawn?' I say in my head. 'Ya don't care what people think. Except for one...' Maggie just stares at me like 'are you_ kidding_? You just killed by family why would I let you in my house for a _shower_?' "Maggie...?"

She sighs, "Fine. But make it quick."

I step forward, opening the door. I take one step inside then slowly turn back around, "Thanks, and I'm sorry by the way. I know it wasn't easy to go through that and I wish it didn't happen that way. Shane's a... well I'm sure ya can put your own words to that." Maggie stares at the ground, knees tucked to her chest, not saying anything. "I'm sorry," I say again before stepping inside. I walk past the kitchen and see Rick and Hershel talking, probably about the barn.

"Hey Shawn are you okay?" Rick asks, noticing me as I try to sneak past.

I nod, "Maggie said I could shower."

"It doesn't matter what _she_ says, it matters what _I_ say," Hershel begins.

"Can I shower? Please?" I ask, somewhat annoyed.

"Up the stairs and down the hall on th-"

"I know. I got it, thanks," I say putting my hand up to stop him.

I come to the bathroom door and push it open with my foot. I get undressed, being careful not to get blood on anything. The shower feels nice, but the warm water stings my arm. "Good job, Shawn. Ya really know how to mess yerself up." Maybe Daryl's right, I really am a piece of work. I always seem to be the reason for everything bad happening. Probably somehow this whole apocalypse is my fault. My friends are probably all dead because I wouldn't go with them, "but they would've ended up dying anyways, even if ya were." I shake off my thoughts and take a look down at my arm, noticing it really isn't all that bad. It looked worse with all the extra blood on it. I step out of the shower and I realize I have to put on my old, bloody clothes again since I didn't bring anything extra. "Eww...," I mumble, making a face as I clip my bra and slip my shirt over my head. "I'm changing as soon as I get back to Daryl's tent..." I make my way downstairs, Rick and Hershel both look up at me. "What?"

"That's a pretty nasty gash on your arm," Rick states.

"Yeah and hurts like a bitch too." He gives me a what happened look. "Took out a walker while I was sittin' alone in the woods. Cut myself with my dagger. Clumsy me," I chuckle.

"You _sure_ it was your knife...," Rick asks without hesitation.

"I'm _positive_," I lie, nodding in all seriousness. Hershel gets up and starts rummaging around in a kitchen cabinet.

"Here," Hershel says putting some ointment stuff on a big bandage. He wraps it around my arm, causing an almost unbearable sting. "This will clean it."

"Thanks," I say. "And I'm sorr-," I try to appologize as Rick clears his throat and shakes his head telling me no, not the time.

"So I suspect you and your sister will be leaving with this group?" He asks bluntly. I glance over at Rick and he gives me a slight nod.

"Uh, yes. Of course, I'll be gone and outta your hair."

"Good. You'll be outta my hair tonight then," he says in a mimicking tone. I give a single not and head straight for the door.

"Feel better?" Maggie asks before I can get off the porch, but I know she didn't mean it nicely.

"Yes, thank you," I said with a forced smile. I catch Glenn staring at my arm, "I'm fine. And uh... Thanks for the guitar. It's pretty nice."

"Good, I'm glad," I look up and see him smiling at me. I return the gesture and head off back to the tent. I see Daryl still isn't here so I grab up an outfit and step inside to change. I get on my sports bra and clean shirt and underwear. As I'm pulling up my pants I hear the zipper of the tent opening, I turn around quickly, seeing Daryl staring wide eyed.

"What the _hell_, dude! Can't ya see I'm tryin' to _change_?" I say zipping my jeans.

"Well what the hell ya changin' in _'ere_ for?" He asks pointing down.

"I jus' got a shower and I forgot to bring clothes to change into."

"Okay, well yer changed now get the hell out." He steps out of the way, which isn't really becuase of the small size of the tent, and points to the open flap. I push past him and step outside.

"It's getting late. We'll probably be doin' the service soon," I point out as Daryl zips his tent closed.

"Yeah, yeah. Tell 'em I'll be right there."

"I can wait for ya." I hear him sigh.

"Damn, girl." He unzips the tent again and barges out with a different shirt on. "Don't ya ever listen ta people?"

"Nah... I stopped doin' that once my mom died and I was on my own. Learned yer better off that way... right?" He side smiles, unwillingly, and shakes his head walking off toward camp.

"I'm sorry." Man I've been throwing that word around everwhere today. He turns back around.

"For what?"

"Sophia...," I sigh. "I know ya spent the most time and effort tryin' ta find her... and she was here the whole damn time." He looks at me, really studying my face. "What?" I cock my head. He shakes his like he's shaking away a thought he had.

"We should go, don' wanna miss it." I nod and we both walk to the rest of the group.

* * *

There's a beautiful sunset off in the distance as everyone gathers around the gravesites for Hershel's family and Sophia. Each site has a small cross made out of wood. Daryl and I approach the back side of the group trying not to disturb any inside prayers people may be praying. We're all silent for a few minutes when Rick finally decides to talk. I look around to see Carol isn't here. I take a couple steps sideways towards Daryl and carefully take his hand in mine. He flinches then relaxes, looking down at me. I rise up on my tip toes to whisper in his ear, "Carol's not here." He takes a quick glance around and let's out a small sigh.

"I got it," he says slowly dropping my hand and quietly walking away. I stop him before he gets too far.

"No, let me," I smile at him. "It's okay."

I walk straight to the RV and find her sitting at the table. I walk in slowly, not sure if my company is welcome. "Everyone's out there for Sophia." She closes her eyes real tight at the sound of her daughter's name. "Ya should be out there for yer little girl."

"That's not my little girl," she cries, moving her head to look at me. "My little girl died a long time ago in the woods."

"Carol, please just come," I say as I sit at the table with her. She shakes her head, fresh tears stream down her face. Just then Daryl steps into the RV and Carol turns away to stare out the window. I turn to look at him, shake my head and sigh. He nods slightly, looking down at the floor. "I think it's best we jus' leave her be," I say quietly, standing back up and making my way for the RV door. Daryl steps towards the table, getting out of the way for me to walk down the steps. I see him take one last glance at the woman before meeting me outside. We start to make our way back over to the graves when we see everyone's left and made their way into their tents.

"Is she inside?" Dale asks as he, Andrea, and Glenn walk toward the direction of the RV. Daryl and I both nod, not saying anything as we head to our camp.

The sun has pretty much set and the breeze has picked up quite a bit. It's a lot colder tonight than it has been. Camping outside in tents in November, in Georgia, isn't ideal. For me, it's even worse because I'm in a hammock and I have nothing to block the wind. 'Jusup grab your things and go back in with Allie,' I think. 'But I don't want Daryl to think I'm just leavin' him. Oh come on, Shawn it's _Daryl_! He won't care'.

I talk myself into moving back in the tent with Allie so I pack up the few clothes I had and start walking off. "Where do ya think yer goin'?" Daryl calls as I take a few steps away. I stop walking a pause for a couple seconds, finally turning and running right into him.

"Oh jeez," I blurt out. "So I start the day with Maggie _flippin_' me out of my _hammock_ and end it _runnin_' into _you_."

"Where ya goin'?" He asks again in his deep, husky southern voice, giving my chills.

"It's just a _little_ chilly to be sleepin' in a hammock tonight," I say repositioning by bag on my shoulder. I wait for him to say something, but he doesn't. I sigh, "so I was gonna go stay with my sis tonight." He slowly shakes his head and carefully takes the bag off my shoulder and slings it over his.

"Yer stayin' with me tonight. I don't trust Shane to leave ya alone if yer not with me," he admits, getting a little pink in the face.

I smile, "since when do ya look out for me?" I cross my arms and tilt my head to one side.

"Since...I... I don't _know_ I just _do_, all right?" He says, taken aback at my question. "Damn, girl. So her stayin' with me whether ya like it or _not_." I throw my hands up in surrender and he starts walking back to camp, me following closely behind. He quickly turns back around almost running into me again.

"Jesus, Daryl! Freakin' stop _doin_' that!" I say, pushing him back a little.

"But I'm _not_ one for cuddlin'."

"Well I guess we're more a like than ya think." We take a couple more steps, bringing us back to Daryl's tent and he throws by bag inside, holding the flap open for me to step in, Daryl following behind. I plop myself down on the tent floor, bringing myself on my stomach and folding my arms underneath my head acting as a pillow. Daryl automatically does the same thing, but lies on his back, as far away from me as possible.

'Oh, shit,' I think.

* * *

***Daryl's POV***

'Oh, shit.'

* * *

He takes a quick peak over at me and we just stare at each other, neither of us saying a word. 'Well this is awkward.' I let out a sigh and turn my head to the other direction, closing my eyes and soon falling asleep.


	11. Chapter 11: So Much For Goin Huntin'

**Okay, so I updated my story. If you haven't read it recently, please check it out! I changed a lot of stuff! And here's chapter 11!**

**Lots of Daryl in this chapter, but what chapter doesn't ^_^ More Daryl and Shawn... well this one is basically all Daryl and Shawn. Sorry it ended up that way :p don't say I didn't warn you! So it's Daryl and Shawn! if ya know what I mean ;) It's not too bad though... ha!**

* * *

**Chapter 11: So Much For Goin' Huntin'**

I wake up with my arm wrapped around Daryl's bare stomach and my head resting on his chest. His one arm was around my back, resting up on my hip and the other arm over mine on his stomach. 'What the hell? How did _this_ happen?' I wonder. I descretely look up, trying not to move too much, to see his face finding him still sounds alseep. I move my head back down, slowly shifting to get comfortable again. I feel him move slightly, waking up with a deep moan. Looking up again, I smile and chuckle.

"What?" He asks gruffly.

"So, Daryl Dixon don't cuddle, huh?" I ask jokingly.

"No, I _don't_. Now get up. Ya freakin' put my arm ta sleep," He orders, basically pushing me off of him.

"Sorrrry. Well I'm sure this wasn't _all_ _me_," I tell him sitting up. He stays quiet and just huffs.

"Well it _ain't_ happinin' 'gain," he says sharply, pulling a shirt over his head.

"Mhm," I smile. "No, way," I say sarcastically, shaking me head.

"It _won't_!" He exclaims, then realize I'm part joking. "Stop it, girl."

"Uh huh," I mutter, still smiling fully at him.

"Dammit, get outta ma tent," he demands, pointing to the tent door. "Ya really got issues, girl."

"Hah, don't we all?" I laugh. "I really get under that skina yours, don' I?" I ask standing, stepping towards the flap. I turn back around before unzipping the tent, waiting for an answer. He's quiet for a couple seconds before he finally looks up at me. I raise by eyebrows.

"Hey! Has anyone seen my dad?!" Maggie screams outside and I quickly unzip the tent and step outside, Daryl close behind. Maggie asks around the group if anyone has seen her dad, everyone shaking their head. Lastly, she comes over to Daryl and I asking the same.

"Ya mean Hershel's _gone_?" Daryl asks, somewhat surprised.

"That's kinda why I'm asking, stupid redneck hick," she says crossing her arms and cocking her head to one side, putting her weight on one leg. Daryl furrows his eyebrows and sighs loudly, turning to the side to pick up his crossbow and throw it over his back.

"Bitch," he mutters. I breath out a single huff from my nose, trying not to laugh aloud. "The hell ya laughin' at over there?" He asks, nodding his head in my direction.

"Nothin'," I say, suddenly getting serious, shrugging my shoulders. I turn back to Maggie telling her we'd help look.

"Why?" Daryl suddenly asks in his husky southern drawl. "That bitch don't _deserve_ my help findin' her old man." He makes a good point, I mean, she did just call him a stupid redneck hick. I probably wouldn't want to help either.

"Hello! I'm still _here_!" Maggie screams, grabbing our attention. "Are y'all gonna help me or not?" Daryl keeps quiet, making me also keep quiet. Maggie shakes her head in annoyance and disappointment and walks away to the others.

"Way ta be nice, Daryl," I point out sarcastically.

"Ya can help! I jus' said_ I_ wasn'," he says pointing his arm at me, then at himself. "I ain't helpin' that bitch," he motions his arm in her direction.

I nod, "Well all right, then. But I'm stickin' with _you_. Whether ya like it or not."

"Fine. I'm goin' huntin'," he says walking fast past me and I follow. He does the whole turn around thing, running into me.

"Daryl...," I say through gritted teeth.

"Whatya think yer doin'?"

"I jus' _told_ ya I'm stickin' with ya. And ya really think I'm just gonna let ya go off _alone_ after what happened to ya last time?"

"Well ya ain't my _ma_ an' I sure as _hell_ don't need a babysitter," he argues.

"Mhmm, really...," I nod slowly. "Well I'm comin'...," I say patting his chest and looking deeply into his blue eyes. "...so let's go if ya wanna go," I say pointing behind him, trying to get him to move. He says nothing, turns around and heads for the woods. I wait till there's quite a bit of space between us before starting to walk again, hoping to avoid him turning around without warning.

* * *

***Daryl's POV***

Damn this girl all to hell. What was she doing to me? I never hunted with anybody, not even Merle. Always alone, and it was best off that way. But what could I say, no? "Of course ya can, man!" I loudly whisper to myself. Shawn looks over at me like she heard me.

"Ya say somethin'?" I shake my head and keep walking, looking down for any signs of tracks. I couldn't just say no, or maybe I didn't want to.

"Yes, yes ya did!" She glances at me again. Dammit, I gotta stop doing that. I don't know what it was about her, maybe her attitude, I mean, she was pretty freakin' badass. Or maybe just simply her looks? The way she walks? I slow a little as the thought comes to my mind, letting her go a little ahead. I study the swing of her hips, damn.

"Hey!" I look up quickly as she calls to me. "Ya starin' at my ass back there?" Goddamn her fuckin' amazing body and the way her tanktop rides up her stomach, showing a little naval. A belly button ring? I was surprised she even wore a tanktop as you can see a few scars on her shoulder blades from that asshole, Mark. Her jeans as they fit perfectly around the curvature of her hips. I make my way back up to her face; her long, wavy, dark, red hair parted on one side and some of it falling to the front. The left corner of her lips raises a bit, making a beautiful side smile. Shit, she was smiling. Stop. I don't know how much longer I can just stand here without running to her and holding her, caressing her soft skin... "Daryl...?" Oh shit, yup, I was just looking her all over, standing there probably with fuckin' drool coming out of my mouth.

"Whatcha starin' at?" I ask harshly coming back to earth.

"_Me_? Um, I think _you_ were the one that was just starin' me down." I look down quickly, flushing a bit.

'Dammit, man, cut it out!' "Let's go," I say as I quickly zoom by her. She better not be checking me out now.

* * *

He was totally just checking me out. Whatever, I'll let him. I like the guy. Yes, maybe he's twice my age, but you can't be picky and choosy in a zombie apocalypse. Daryl was everything a man should be in this kind of world. He was protective, sweet, sarcastic, and even funny. He can be a total dick, too, but, even that is necessary when the time calls for it. I smile at the thought. Daryl being a complete ass? Yeah, I think I've seen that...

"Ya keepin' up back there?" Daryl turns and calls to me. "Whatcha smilin' at? Ya ain't checkin' _me_ out now are ya?" I look up to see his face redden. I think he just admitted to checking me out, even though I all ready know he was.

"So ya _were_ lookin' me over," I smile.

"I didn' say that," he shakes his head and takes a few steps closer.

"It was implied," I say crossing my arms. We're face to face now, just inches from each other. He reaches out and takes my right arm, making then unfold from my stomach. He drops his crossbow with his other hand and grabs my left arm. He looks down at our hands as we hold onto each other. He sighs deeply.

"What've ya done to me, girl?" I'm breathing heavily, fearing what may happen next.

"Daryl...," I let out panting a little, my heartrate rising quickly. He starts pulling my arms making me fall forward a little. I curl my toes under me as hard as possible to stop me from falling right into him. "I'm sorry," I gasp, right before our lips meet.

He furrows his eyebrows, "fer?"

"For callin' ya a stupid redneck asshole... couple a nights ago," I say with a shakey voice, looking away.

"I never heard ya say that," he says shaking his head.

"Yeah, I know. I said it to myself. After we had that fight about the barn." He chuckles.

"Ya know, what I don' know, ya can prolly jus' keep to yerself."

I let out a breath, "yeah, right." I nod, agreeing, hoping that I didn't just mess anything up by telling him. "Well you're not by the way," I pause. "I was jus' mad."

"I get it," he says letting go of my right arm and putting his hand up to my face, tilting it upward and making me look at him. "Can I kiss ya now?" He asks eagerly. I slowly nod and finally our lips meet for the first time. The kiss is soft at first, then becomes more intense. He drops my hands and finds his way to my hips, sqeezing hard. I raise my arms up and wrap them around his neck, standing on my tiptoes to make the kiss more comfortable. He then hoists me up and I wrap my legs around his waist. We break for air as he pushes me up against a nearby tree, making me grunt.

"So much for huntin'," I chuckle.

"Shut up," he says huskily as his lips kiss mine one more time then makes his way to my neck. My breathing is heavy as he kisses my neck and makes his way up my tanktop, his hands feeling up my ribcage. I breathe in loudly as he comes to the gunshot scar Mark left a few months back. He looks deeply into my eyes with a look that says 'I'm sorry'.

"Don't...," I mouth quietly, and kiss him once more. He sighs, releasing me from the tree and setting me back on my feet.

"We should prolly get back," he says with his face still burried in my neck. I nod and pull away slowly, raise up on my tiptoes and kiss him one last time before heading back to camp.

* * *

"Where've y'all _been_?" Allie asks, rushing up to me as Daryl and I start walking into the clearing of the farm.

"Around," I answer after a short hesitation. I look over to see Daryl all ready walking off back to his tent.

"Around, huh? I see the way you're lookin' at him," she says playfully, catching my attention.

"What?" I ask, getting red in the face. She laughs.

"Look, we've all been looking around for y'all," she says, suddenly getting serious.

"Why, what's goin' on?" I furrow my eyebrows.

"Hershel really isn't here, and Rick and Glenn went into town to go look for him."

"Are ya _kiddin'_ me? They went out there ta look for some crazy old man?"

"Shawn, that's Maggie's and Beth's _father_!"

"Yeah, well, _shit_ happens, Allie! _Okay_? He left! Not worth people riskin' their_ lives_ to go out an' look for him."

"What if it were me?" She pauses. "Or Daryl..." I look up at her quickly.

"Don' ya _dare_ bring him into this. Ya know I would do _anythin'_ for you...an' him," I say sheeply. "But, it's not like Rick or Glenn are close to the old guy," I say speaking back up.

"No, maybe not, but we owe it to him and his girls. Specially after what we did."

"Ya mean what _Shane_ did. If anyone it should be _him_ out there, on his _own_, lookin' for Hershel."

"Well he's not," she pauses. "Something happened with Beth, _that's_ why we need him back. She _needs_ her father," Allie trails off. I don't say anything, but give her a look saying to continue. "Beth was in the kitchen and collapsed." My eyes widen as I slowly look back at her. "We don't know what happened, it's like she's in shock or something."

"Pff, aren't we all?" I mutter, crossing my arms and looking back down, upset and annoyed.

Allie rolls her eyes, "Anyways, I just thought you and Daryl should know what's going on. Think you can manage to tell him?"

"Yeah, yeah. I got it."

"Thanks," she says before walking back to camp. I sigh deeply as I watch her walk away. I don't really know why I was so mad. It's not like Rick, Glenn, and I were close either. But, they took us in, not Hershel. Rick. His group took Allie and I in. Rick and Glenn had to be okay.

I head over to Daryl's makeshift camp and tell him the news about Rick and Glenn, and Beth. He's also upset, so we understand each other and why we think they shouldn't have gone out to look for him. "So whata we do?" I ask him, plopping down in my hammock.

"Jus' wait till they get back, I guess." I nod, laying back and folding my arms under my head for a pillow...

(To be continued)


	12. Chapter 12: Not My Problem

**Chapter 12: Not My Problem**

It had been a few hours since Rick and Glenn went to go look for the old man, Hershel. As I lay in my hammock I can hear Lori panicking that they aren't back yet. "Great." I hear Daryl mumble. I sit up in my hammock and look down at him sitting on the ground next to me. Lori quickly makes her way over to Daryl and I.

We steal a glance at each other before we both hear, "Daryl!" He rolls his eyes at the sound of her voice before looking in her direction. "Daryl, I would really appreciate it if you went out and looked for Rick and Glenn."

He shakes his head and looks down at the ground, "nah, I'm done lookin' for people."

"They aren't back yet and I'm starting to ge-."

"They'll get back when they get back. I ain't goin' anywhere," he looks up at her with harsh eyes. Lori looks over to me and raises her eyebrows, clearly wanting me to change his mind. I throw my hands up like 'don't look at me'.

"Really? Neither of you are going to do _anything_?" Daryl and I look at each other then at the same time look up at Lori, her hands on her hips. She sighs heavily and walks off back to the others.

* * *

It was late now and Rick and them still weren't back yet. Daryl and I sit huddled together by a fire. It was nice having it just be me and Daryl, and I'm sure he felt the same way. I curl in closer into his body and sigh. "Still not the cuddle type," I say jokingly. Daryl just chuckles but soon comes back to seriousness as Allie comes over to us. "Have y'all seen Lori?" Daryl huffs loudly, clearly not wanting to answer.

"Not since a few hours ago," I say, looking up at her through the fire. "Why?"

"She's not around. She said earlier she was gonna ask Daryl, here, if he would help look for them. I'm guessing he said _no_ cause he's still here..." Daryl looked up at my sister with a tightly clenched jaw. I stroke my hand up and down his back and he quickly relaxes. "She probably went off on her own to look for them," Allie continued with worry in her voice.

"Not my problem," Daryl answerers shortly.

"Well what the hell is your problem?!" Allie suddenly screams, taking Daryl and I by surprise.

"Sure as hell ain't none a y'all!" Daryl yelled back, breaking free of my arms and standing up.

"Oh, but my _sister _is? Is _that_ right? I know what y'all did in the woods earlier. It was written all over your face!" She screams, getting in his face.

"Allie!" I say harshly, getting in between them and sticking my arms out to stop the two people I cared about most from beating each other. "Can we _not_ do this right now, please?" I ask as calmly as possible. I step to Daryl and look deeply in his eyes, but he's still staring harshly at Allie.

"Daryl, please. Just go in the tent," I say trying to turn him around. Finally I break his stare from my sister and he looks at me with those soft blue eyes. "Go," I whisper. When he gets in the tent I turn back around to face Allie.

"What the _hell_? Why do ya always _do_ that?" I yell, fighting back potential tears.

'Ya don't cry, girl. Remember that!' I yell in my head. "You and Daryl are the only two people I care about in this world. _Don't_ mess this up for me," I said pointing my finger at her like a mother would.

"Shawnee, I'm sorry!" She says innocently as I turn away.

"No yer not," I say flatly and forcefully open the tent flap and fall inside.

She wasn't sorry. I knows she's not sorry. She doesn't have to look out for me anymore, she hasn't for years. I was alone through all that time I spent with Mark she was never there to save me. "Daryl," I say calmly. He doesn't look over, but instead sits there facing the opposite direction like he wants nothing more to do with me. "Shit!" I scream. "It's over isn't it?" I ask, bringing my voice back down.

"There was nothin' there to end in the first place," he says quietly. And with that I find tears running down my face.

"Ya _can't_ be serious...?" I look over and glare at his back. Before I give him a chance to speak I burst out of the tent and walk away. Suddenly a tug on my arm turns me around and Daryl's lips quickly find mine. I try to push him off, but he doesn't move. He holds me close to him tight and locks my arms down by my side, making me not able to move.

"Daryl." I pull away just enough to mumble his name. He deepens the kiss as his hands make their way up my tanktop. "Not here," I gasp, pulling his hands off my stomach.

"Then get yer ass back in ma tent," he smiles. This smile was different. It wasn't his usual cute side smile. This was a lustful smile, a smile that said 'I want you'. I smile back and kiss him one more time before taking his hand and leading him back into the tent. Immediately, we cling to each other and kiss with passion. He finds his way up my tanktop again, but this time taking it completely off, leaving me in my black bra. I giggle through my smile until he runs his fingers over my old gunshot wound, making my smile instantly fade. He then slowly turns me around and caresses the scars on my back. He sighs deeply, dropping his hands and I turn back around. He brings his hand up to my face and kisses me ever so softly. I didnt think Daryl Dixon would be one for a soft, intimate kiss. He eventually comes around to the back of my neck and entangles his fingers in my hair. I inch closer to him and plant a kiss on his mouth, snaking my hands up under his shirt, pulling it up to his chest. He breaks free from the kiss and takes his shirt the rest of the way off.

"My turn," I whisper feeling up and down his back. He slowly turns around revealing his scars. I've seen them briefly before, but never actually examined them closely. Most of them were raised quite a bit. Running my fingers over them made me cringe a little. I breath in loudly through my nose and take a step back, my eyes filling with water. Dammit, I was crying again. I think I've cried more since I've met Daryl than I have my whole life. "Sorry," I mumble, wiping my face. He moves in closer and lifts my face to meet his lips. I grab ahold of his waist and slide my hands up his stomach and wrap my arms around his neck. He brings his arms down to the small of my back and we stand there, loving each others company. His hands make their way up my back and rest on the clasp of my bra. He struggles with trying to unclip it and I laugh in breaths. "Need a little help?" I reach behind me, biting my lower lip playfully, and slowly unclip my bra and pulling it off my shoulders, making it fall to the ground. We find each others lips once again as Daryl caresses over my breasts.

"So beautiful," he whispers. Suddenly he brings his hands under my legs and lifts me as I wrap my legs around his waist, bringing us to the ground. He lays be back, trapping me to the tent floor. He rubs my side with his hand, giving me chills. He moves his kisses down to my collarbone and I start to unbuckle his belt when suddenly we hear yelling from outside. We both stop and look towards the tent door briefly then back at each other. Daryl continues to kiss my neck.

"We should probably see what's going on," I say, pushing him off of me a little. He sighs and throws himself off, finding his shirt and pulling it back over his head. I get up quickly and he hands me my bra, smiling and laughing to himself. I can feel the blood rush to my face in embarrassment as I take my bra from him.

'What's wrong with ya, girl? Jus' get dressed!' I think to myself. I clasp my bra and pull my tanktop over my head. I start rummaging through my bag of clothes looking for my sweatshirt. "Damn."

"What's wrong with ya?" Daryl asks unzipping the tent.

"I'm _freezing_ and I think Allie has my jacket."

He sighs, "here," he says holding out his jacket.

"No," I shake my head. "You'll be cold."

"I'll be fine. Jus' take the damn thing." I smile and take the jacket, pulling my arms through and wrapping it around my body. I lean over and give Daryl one last kiss before heading out to meet the rest of the group.

* * *

As we get closer to the rest of camp I notice a car that hadn't been there. "Are they back?" I ask to no one in particular.

"I don't know," Andrea replies, joining Daryl and I as we walk over to the car. The car doors open and Shane and Lori hop out, but no Rick, Hershel or Glenn.

"So where are they?" Lori asks us. We all shake our heads. "What do you mean, they... they're not back?" She cries. She turns to look at Shane and rushes to him, giving him a big push backwards. "You _told_ me they were _back_!"

"I did what I had to do to get you back here," Shane says looking up through the top of his eyes.

"Son of a bitch," Lori mutters.

"Come on, lets get you washed up," Andrea says leading her to the house. We all wait outside for Lori to come back out to know what happened, but Shane beat her to it.

"This is all _your_ fault!" He yells, pointing in Daryl's direction. I follow his finger and see that he _is_ pointing at Daryl.

"How is this _his_ fault?" I blurt out also pointing at Daryl.

"Lori said y'all wouldn't help find them so she went out on her _own_ and flipped the car."

"That ain't our problem," Daryl says through gritted teeth. "She didn't _have_ to go out there. Actually it was flat out _stupid_!" Daryl struck a Shane nerve as he comes flying in our direction. I step in front of Daryl to block Shane's fist from hitting him, but he doesn't stop and hits me instead. "Shawn...!" I'm instantly knocked over from the punch, Daryl catching me as I fall and slowly setting me on the ground. Holding my face I can feel the throbs in my cheek. Daryl stands and throws himself at Shane, trapping him on the ground. He throws a hard punch, and another, and another...

"Daryl!" Maggie screams. Andrea and Lori come back outside looking completely shocked at the scene taking place. I slowly stand up, tears streaming down my face. Shane throws Daryl off of him, pinning him to the ground and giving his fist a turn.

"Shane, stop!" Andrea and Lori drag Shane off Daryl and I quickly run to his side.

"What the hell is _wrong_ with you people?" Maggie cries. "My father is _gone_, Beth is in shock, and y'all are out here fighting?"

"Maggie's right," Andrea says. "This needs to stop. We have bigger issues that need to be taken care of." Everyone starts walking back to their tents as it's now completely dark out. I slowly get Daryl up and we walk back to his tent.

"I'm so sorry," I say, tears still running down my face. Daryl sits next to me in the tent and cups my face, looking at me with a look of worry and sorry. "Don't worry about me," I try to reassure him.

"You're all I worry about," he whispers, sighing and wiping a falling tear with his thumb. He lies back on his sleeping bag and I lie down next to him, wrapping my arms around his waist and slowly drifting off to sleep.


	13. Chapter 13: Newcomer

**Hey y'all! I really hope you're liking my story! I'm not getting any reviews :/ It makes me want to keep writing if I hear from y'all, but if not I'm not sure if I should keep going. so please R&R!**

**Well not sure I feel about this chapter. But here it is :)**

* * *

**Chapter 13: Newcomer **

The next morning I wake up still cuddled in next to Daryl. I look up to see the right side of his face, by his eye, has bruised over quite a bit throughout the night, giving off a shiny light purple tint. I lightly caress the bruised area with my finger, making him wince as he jolted awake and grabbed my wrist. "I'm sorry!" I say, pulling my hand away and sitting up. "Shane really got ya good." Daryl glared hard at me at my comment. "Damn, I didn't mean it as a slap in the face. I was jus' sayin'." He huffs and sits up next to me, looking at me intently. "What?" He scoots over closer and rests his hand on the left side of my face, making me pull back quickly in pain. I slowly bring my own hand to my face and press lightly, making myself wince again. "Ow, shit," I mumble with furrowed eyebrows. Daryl lets out a heavy sigh and looks down. "Hey," I say softly grabbing under his chin to lift his head back up and meet my eyes. "I'm fine," I smile, making my face hurt. "I'm tough, remember?" There was a long silence between us before Daryl finally spoke up.

"I'm gonna kill 'im." Fear suddenly rushes over my entire body hearing the seriousness in his voice, not fear for me but fear for him. His eyes full of anger and maybe even a little guilt.

"Jus' drop it, Daryl," I tell him harshly.

"The _hell_ ya jus' say to me? Jus' _drop_ it?!" He yells, quickly coming to his feet. "Do ya _see_ what he did to ya?"

I huff, "Uhh yeah! I _feel_ it!" I find myself on my feet in front of him.

"All right then, ya know what I gotta do," he says turning around and unzipping the tent.

"Daryl, no!" I yell, reaching out to stop him. "I can't let ya do anything." He looks at me confused like 'why not?'. "He's not gonna touch me again," I try to assure him. "I promise." He slowly removes his hand from the tent zipper and steps closer to me.

"I meant what I said last night." I give him a blank, confused stare, not remembering what he said. He stays quiet, clearly not wanting to say it again. I think hard about what he said last night, then it hits me, 'yer all I worry about'.

'Shit, Daryl', I think to myself. I sigh as the night replays in my head and he continues.

"So, I'm gonna _do_ whatever I needa to keep ya safe."

"I _am_ safe. Daryl, shit is going to happen with _everybody_, but ya can't just exterminate the rest of the human population to keep _me_ safe." He says nothing, but nods. "No, Daryl," I chuckle a little, shaking my head. I bring my hands up to his waist and move them slowly up his sides, making him shiver. I smile as best as I can, my bruised face stopping me from smiling too big, "Jus'_ promise_ me ya won't _do_ anythin' stupid." He looks at me with frustrated blue eyes. I kiss him lightly and his face lightens as he gives a small nod. "Thank you," I say before kissing him again and leaving the tent.

* * *

"He can't _stay_ here!"

"Why the hell did you _bring_ him here?!"

"What are we gonna do with him?"

"Everyone just _calm_ down!" Rick yells throwing his arms up to quiet everyone.

"What the hell's goin' on?" I ask as I approach the rest of the group gathered by the house, Daryl following behind me. "I see y'all made it back," I point out to myself, looking to Rick, Glenn, and Hershel. They look over to me and Rick gives a slight nod. "What happened?" I ask again as I look around at everyone's furious faces.

"They brought someone back," Shane quickly answers. I quickly look back and Rick and raise my eyebrows asking if he's right. He sighs and looks down.

"You're _kidding_, right?" Glenn and Hershel open the car door and help a boy, who looks around my age, out of the backseat. They tied his hands behind his back and put a bag over his head. His right leg was all messed up and bloody, and he was limping pretty badly.

"We're just fixing up his leg then we'll send him on his way," Rick told the group.

"On his way _where_? We're just gonna let him loose right in our front yar-," I budge in.

"No, no, _no_!" Rick throws his hand up hushing me. "We'll drive him _far_ away from here." Glenn started to walk the boy to the house when Hershel stopped him.

"No. I don't want him going near my house or my daughters. I want him locked up in the old shed over there," he says pointing by the chicken coop and Rick and Glenn haul the boy off to the shed with everyone filing closely behind them. I give a slight nod and smile to Daryl before he follows too. I start walking slowly, when Shane suddenly turns around and walks straight towards me.

"Hey about last night...," he begins, staring intently at the bruise he left for me.

"Save it, Shane." I glare at him hard as I shove past him. He quickly grabs my arm and turns me around, cupping a hand hard against my mouth, making my breathing hard and fast. His other arm tightly wrapped around my back. I start hitting him with every ounce of adrenaline pumping through my body to give solid punches, but they don't even phase him. He lifts his hand from my mouth, but is quickly replaced with his lips. I hit him even harder than before, but finally I think to lift my knee and swing it forward forcefully right in between his legs. He instantly breaks from me, grunting in pain and leans over with one hand resting on a knee and the other hand hold his crotch. "Pig," I grumble before meeting the others at the shed.

"Where were ya?" Daryl asks as I come closer. I say nothing but instead turn my head back to where Shane still stands and then turn back to Daryl with a scared, frustrated, disgusted look in my eyes. He got the hint. "What did he do?" He asks forcefully in a loud whisper. I'm still lost for words as I just stare into Daryl's eyes, my eyes starting to fill with tears. "That's it." Daryl walks to Shane, throwing a fist up ready to punch. I run fast to get in front of Daryl's punch to block it. "The hell ya doin'?" He asks pushing me out of the way. I stumble a few steps back, then reposition myself in front of Daryl again.

"Punchin' him won't solve anythin'," I try to tell him as I shove him backwards. Daryl tries to lunge forwards again, raising his fist back up. "Please _don't_ _do_ this now!" He tries to lunge forward again. "Daryl!" I scream, using my arm to push him back hard against his chest, making him give up. I can just see Shane's face behind me now, relieved that I stopped the man I cared about most from punching the man I despised most. He's lucky. Finally I get the attention of Daryl and stares angrily and intensely into my eyes. "Jus' walk away. C'mon," I say turning him around. Daryl stomps off ahead of me and I follow closely. "Yer a fuckin' _asshole_," I turn and say to Shane before catching up with Daryl. He grabs his crossbow from his tent and continues walking straight for the woods. "Daryl, stop! Please!" I yell after him, having trouble keeping up with his fast pace. As soon as we get deep enough into the woods he slows to a stop and just stands there. "Daryl?" I ask panting and out of breath.

"What did he do?" He asks quietly, barely loud enough for me to hear.

I sigh, "he held me against him and kissed me." He looks down and sniffs.

"Why the _hell_ did ya stop me?"

"Daryl-"

"Why?!" He yells turning around and slamming his crossbow on the ground. Tears start building up in my eyes, but I try to told them back.

"I jus' don't wanna see ya get hurt."

"Pff, me?"

"Yes! _You_!" A tear escapes my eye. "I...I...shit," I stumble over words. Daryl slowly steps closer to me. Before I know it we're face to face, just inches from each other. He moves my hair behind my ear, looking at me with a look of sorry. "Don't ya _dare_ say it."

"Say what?" He asks furrowing his eyebrows.

"Sorry," I mumble. He shakes his head.

"I'm more _pissed_ than sorry."

I sigh, "ya promised me ya wouldn't do anythin' stupid. Gettin' into it with Shane is very stupid." Daryl chuckles and kisses me intensely. I look up into his blue eyes, trying to read his face. I got nothing. I don't think I've ever had a harder time reading someone. "So what happened with that boy?" I ask shaking off his gaze.

"I don't want ya goin' near him. Got it?" He demands, cupping me face in his hands, making me look at him again.

"What is he _dangerous_?"

"Jus' don't." I nod at his request.

"What happened?" I ask again.

"He's locked up in the shed. The doc fixed up his leg and now Rick is tryin' to decide what to do with 'im."

"I thought they were jus' gonna drive him away and let him go." He shruggs and shakes his head.

"I don' know."

* * *

Now, I know Daryl didn't want me near this kid, but I had to see him for myself. I quietly walk over to the shed, trying to to grab anyone's attention back at camp, and climb up the ladder in the back. I sqeeze through the window onto the loft and see him sitting on the floor. His leg was bandaged up just like Daryl said. 'So why is he still here?' I ask myself. His hands were handcuffed behind him and they took the bag off from his head. I layed low so he wouldn't notice me, when finally I get the urge to speak up. "Hey, kid," I whisper and he looks up at me. "Holy shit." I knew this kid! We went to school together here before I moved to Florida. How I remember him, I have no idea. I can just remember little things like that. I couldn't believe it! "Randel?"

"OH!" He smiles as he does that high pitched laugh he always did.

"Shh, shut up!" I yell in a whisper.

"Shawn, please get me outta here," he begs.

"Sorry. No can do," I say sharply. "Do ya know why they're still keepin' ya here?"

"No," he shakes his head. "But can ya please help me out?!"

"Look, yer gonna have to _shut_ up or I'm gonna let them do _whatever_ they _want_ to ya, and _trust_ me it _won't_ be pleasant."

"Oh, please don't," he says looking at me with those stupid puppy dog eyes.

"I gotta go. I'll try and see what's goin' on, okay?"

"Yes, thank you, Shawn!" He exclaims and I start heading back down the ladder.

* * *

It was becoming late afternoon quickly as the day drew on. I knew I had to tell Daryl or Rick about Randel, but I couldn't find either one of them. I head over to Hershel's house hoping he would be inside, I only see Hershel and his daughers. "Oh my God! Beth!" I yell as I run in the house without an invitation. "Yer up!"

"She's doing a lot better now my father is back," Maggie says, still clearly pissed at me. I sigh and turn my attention back to her little sister.

"I'm really glad yer doin' better," I smile and she gives and weak smile in response. "Have ya seen Rick?" I ask Hershel.

"Not really since this morning," He says shaking his head. I nod and head back outside to continue my search.

Finally, I spot Rick talking to Shane over by the RV. I walk over shyly, not wanting to be anywhere near Shane. I'd almost rather not tell Rick right now just because he's here. 'But he needsta know!' I scream in my head. I rack up the nerve and quicken my pace as I get closer to the two men. "I needa talk to ya," I say in Rick's direction. He looks back at Shane then back at me. "Alone."

"Anything you have to say to Rick you can say in front of me," Shane blurts out as he rubs the back of his head nervously. I look to him with a disgusted look then back to Rick raising my eyebrows. Finally he nods and walks me away from Shane.

"What's up?"

"I...," pause. "I know Randel." Rick gives me a look of both disappointment and shock.

"You _know_ him?" I nod. "How do you even-,"

"I went and saw him...," I cut him off. "Jus' a few minutes ago." He looks down and places a hand over his eyes, shaking his head. "I went to school with him here before I moved to Florida," I continue.

"You shouldn't have done that."

"I know, but I had to see him for myself." He huffs. "What are ya plannin' on doin' with him?"

"I don't know. We haven't decided that yet." I give Rick a confused look as he lifts his head back up to meet my eyes.

"I thought ya were gonna drive him away," I furrow my eyebrows.

"Yeah. We were. But now we're not sure."

"_We_? Ya mean you and Shane?" He nods at my question. "Ya know he's just gonna wanna kill 'im right?"

"I'll make sure it won't come down to that," he says putting a hand on my shoulder and looking deeply into my eyes. I nod and Rick walks off. Just then I see Daryl making his way over to me and replacing Ricks spot in front of me.

"What's goin' on?"

'Great,' I think to myself. 'Here we go.'


	14. Chapter 14: Dead and Gone

**Chapter 14: Dead and Gone**

I stared at the ground, hoping Daryl wouldn't demand an answer. He slowly lifts my face with his rough hand and we stay locked in each others gaze when finally I get the nerve to speak up. "I know ya said ya didn't want me near the kid," I say shakily. He suddenly drops his hand and continues to stare at me. His eyes growing angry. "I know him."

"What?" Daryl asks frustrated and confused. "How would ya?"

"I lived _here_ before I lived in Florida. We weren't exactly _friends_ but I saw him around." Daryl stares deeply into my eyes, trying to make sense of what I said. "Please say somethin'."

"Yeah, yer right. I said _don't_ go near 'im," he says harshly.

"I'm sorry. I just...I had to see 'im for myself." Daryl huffs and storms off. "Daryl, please! Wait!" I follow after him and start jogging to keep up with his long strides.

"What if he _did_ somethin' to ya?!" He turns his head a little behind him and yells back to me, but not fully turning around.

"But he _didn't_! I didn't even get _close_ to 'im." He keeps walking quickly ahead, not sure of where he's going. "Would ya please _stop_?!" I yell and he does. I stop too, panting a little as I stare at his back. I slowly start to walk up to him and I reach out to put a hand on his shoulder. He jumps at my touch and quickly turns, glaring at me fiercely. "I'm sorry," I try to say calmly, dropping my arm to my side.

"I can' let anythin' happen to ya," he admits quietly.

"Daryl, I don'_ need_ people lookin' out for me all the time." He chuckles.

"Says the girl who's always gettin' herself into _trouble_."

I sigh deeply, trying to regain even breaths. "Why do ya even care?" I ask shrugging my shoulders. He waits to answer for what seems like an eternity. He quickly storms off again but I stop him. I demand an answer. "Don't do that! Why do ya care what happens to me?" I ask with a strict gaze on his blue eys.

"I don'," he finally says. I slowly nod and look down at the ground, though I know he's clearly lying.

"That's bullshit." I look back at him cautiously. After staring at him for about a minute, I turn away. I just wanted to get away. Away from all of this. I couldn't deal with him, with my feelings for him. I had feelings for this guy? Really? 'Come on, Shawn! Pull it together,' I yell in my head. I start to walk off when I feel a grab at my arm. Daryl forcefully turns me around and finds my lips with his. I was not expecting it. I gasp a little at the meeting of our lips. "Ya know yer mood swings are startin' to give me whiplash," I say as I push him away to talk. He chuckles.

"Maybe I care a lil," he admits.

"Uh huh...," I breath into his mouth as I reach in for another kiss, wrapping my arms around the back of his neck and coming to my tip toes. I quickly pull away and start to walk off.

"The hell ya _goin_'?"

"I need a lil time. I'll come find ya later," I smile and Daryl gives me a harsh, sad glare. "I promise I won't run off." He cocks his to the side and raises his eyebrows. "Or see Randall," I say rolling my eyes, smiling. Daryl gives a single nod and sad smile as I turn and walk off. I can feel his eyes hard on my back as I head towards his tent and grab the guitar. I needed a little time to myself. I haven't had the chance to sit and relax in days it seems like. I come just to the edge of the woods and find a shaded tree to sit under. I don't go too far fearing of what happened last time might happen again. It was starting to get dark and I didn't want to get stuck in the woods.

I strum softly on the guitar hoping I wouldn't attract any walkers. I look out ahead of me as I spot movement in the near distance. I quickly stop strumming thinking the walker hasn't seen me yet. I slowly reach for my dagger that's clipped to my side and position it in my hand, ready to strike if it spots me. As it passes by me I try to make myself as small as possible so it doesn't notice it has dinner sitting there vulnerably under a tree. The walker starts to get out of view when I hear someone approaching from behind me. "Just stay away from her, Shane!"

'Allie?' I quickly set the guitar aside and come to my feet to turn and see my sister storming into the woods with the monster Shane following closely behind her. "Allie!" I yell in a whisper. I loudly shush her as I throw up my arms to stop her, thinking the walker has not for sure noticed us. I turn around and see the same walker now coming in our direction. "What the hell is goin' on?" I ask both of them as they both now stand in front of me.

"I was just trying to tell him to leave you alone. I see the way he looks at you," Allie whispers to me.

"Al it's fine. I can handle it," I say as I look back at Shane, who's stand a little behind Allie. "I have Daryl now." Allie sighs and nods. "C'mon. Let's get outta here." I turn to grab the guitar that still lies next to the tree and glance up to see the walker has gotten extremely close. I pull back quickly and grab Allie's arm to bring her back to camp. "Wanna take care of that?" I tell Shane as I head nod at the walker. He just stands there with his hands on his hips staring at Allie and I. "Umm, Shane?" I blurt out as the walkers arms reach out to grab him. Before I knew it my sister was in the strong grip of Shane's hand and he threw her back so hard she stumbled and fell, making the hungry walker follow after her and chow it's teeth into her flesh. I couldn't believe what just happened. It was all so fast. Shane just threw my sister for the walker. "ALLIE!" I scream and run to her side, killing the bloody walker with my knife. "No, no, no!" I cry as I softly stroke her long, blond hair. Soon I fill with rage and quickly stand, knife in hand. I turn to see Shane still standing there watching as I lose the only family I have. "What the _hell_ did you _do_?!" I lunge at Shane lifting my knife. Arms wrapping behind my waist stop me from slashing my sister's killer. "Get the _hell_ off me!" I scream and turn to see Daryl. Tears start to fill my eyes. I look down at my lifeless sister and Daryl's gaze follows. I breathe heavily as anger fills my body and I turn again to lunge at Shane. This time, Daryl doesn't stop me and I jump on Shane, making him fall to the ground with me on top. I quickly pin him down with my knee against his chest and my knife against this throat. "Ya sonofabitch." I press the knife a little harder into his skin, making him wince as a couple drops of blood escape down his neck. Another set of arms grab me and pull me off of Shane, yanking my knife from my grip and throwing it on the ground. He wraps my arms behind me and holds them so I can't move. I thrash as hard as possible to break free. Finally I get my right hand free so I can turn slightly. It's Rick this time.

"What are you _doing_?!" He screams at me.

"_Shane_... just _killed_ my _sister_!" I scream, pulling my other arm away. Rick stares at me in disbelief then turns his attention to the two bodies on the ground. "He just threw her to a walker," I try to say a little more calmly as a tear runs down my face. I try to explain to him, and now everyone else who has gathered around, the whole situation. I knew no one would believe me and I had to witnesses. Everyone's shocked faces makes me want to run. They stare at me like _I'm_ the monster. Even Daryl wasn't defending me. He just stands there like a statue, unable to talk. I couldn't deal with it. I run away. Far away. I had nobody now.

* * *

I didn't know where I was. My legs couldn't carry me any further and suddenly I find myself collapsed on the ground. I curl up in fetal position and just cry. I don't know how long I layed there when I feel a hand on my back. I quickly position my dagger in my hand and roll over, catching Daryl quickly backing up. Is lowly come to my feet, dagger still poised.

"Shawn, I'm sorry."

"You're _sorry_?" Did he really just say _sorry_?! "_Sorry_?! Really?! That's all ya have to say?!"

"Put the dagger down," he says calmly, slowly raising a hand. "Put it down."

"Ya know, I really thought ya were different," I begin. He looks at me puzzled. "I thought ya would defend me back there! But ya just stood there lookin' at me crazy like the rest of 'em!" Daryl slowly approaches me and my flicker my dagger up to warn him. He flinches.

"God dammit! Put it _down_!" I stare a into his eyes for a couple seconds then finally lower my dagger to my side. "Look. I'm sorry! Okay?! I didn't _know_ what to do!"

"Hmm let me help ya out... Defend me!" I yell with more tears running down my face. "I thought we got each other!"

"We do!" He defends himself.

"Then what the hell was that back there?" Daryl seems lost for words as I ask him the question. I stand there quietly with folded arms waiting for him to answer. Then finally...

"I don't know," he mutters looking away.

I slowly walk up to Daryl placing a hand on the side of his face, lifting it to meet my eyes. "He killed my sister, Daryl. Do you believe me or not?" He slowly lifts his hand and wipes away a falling tear.

"I believe you." I wrap my arms around his neck slowly and rest my head on his shoulder. He wraps his arms around my lower back and squeezes me tight. "It's getting dark. We should get back to camp." I slowly pull away and look intently into his blue eyes.

"I can't go back there," I say softly and slowly.

"The hell ya talkin' about?" Daryl furrows his eyebrows.

"Daryl, he killed-."

"I know, I know," he cuts me off. "But ya still have to come back!"

"I can't be with those people! Not after what just happened. I have no one there!" Daryl steps back frustrated at my comment. 'Shit.'

"What about me?"

"Daryl...I...I'm sorry. I do have ya," I reassure him. "Only if you'll still have me?" His eyes widen as he's taken aback. I'm sure he's never had a relationship like this before, if you can even call us a relationship. He says nothing but I stead grabs my face in his hands and kisses me passionately. I pull away and smile. "C'mon. Let's get outta here."

* * *

On our way back I ask about Randall and what going to happen with him. Daryl still doesn't know. I could only hope Shane or Rick doesn't just up and kill the kid.

As soon as we get back we're swarmed by the rest of the group. Daryl does everything he can to keep them away from me. He escorts me back to his tent and brings me inside, zipping the tent flap behind him. "I'll be right back, okay?" I nod and get settled into the sleeping bag.

"Shawn?"

'Well that's not Daryl,' I think to myself. "Go away."

"It's me, Lori. Can you please come out a talk a sec?"

I sigh and unwillingly unzip the tent, stepping outside. "The hell ya want, lady?"

"Look, I don't know what happened earlier, but I wanted to say I'm sorry," she says annoyed by my "lady" comment.

"I'll tell ya what happened. Yer buddy, Shane, killed my sister, that's what."

"I know that might've been what it loo-."

"No. He did," I say flatly, cutting her off.

"Well," she raises her eyebrows. "Here's your knife," she says extending her arm. "And your guitar."

I take the knife and clip it back on my pants. "I don't want the guitar. That was Allie's thing. Ya can just give it back to Glenn."

"Everything okay over here?" Daryl asks as he makes his way back over.

"Yeah, everything's good. Right, Shawn?" I glare hard at Lori before turning around and stepping back in the tent.

"I really am sorry. Tell Shawn for me will you?" I hear Lori say before walking off.

Daryl steps inside and removes his shirt. He lies down beside me and I instantly curl into his body. "So where'd ya have to run off to?"

"Randall stuff," he says shortly.

"So what's gonna happen?"

"Rick said we're gonna have a meeting about it tomorrow morning." I nod into his chest. "Ya needa sleep." I left my head and kiss him deeply before resting my head back down and soon falling asleep.


	15. Chapter 15: He Deserves A Chance

**Chapter 15: He Deserves A Chance**

When the next morning rolls around I notice I'm alone in the tent. I sit up slowly realizing I still had all my clothes on. 'I must've been really tired last night,' I think to myself. I quickly throw on a different shirt and my boots and head outside. Everyone is standing around in a huddle and I see Daryl putting a Cherokee Rose on the ground followed by Glenn with the guitar. I walk over and see a handmade cross out of wood with "Allie" carved in it. I start crying all over again. "Andrea, Lori, Maggie, and Carol put it together," Rick tells me as I come next to Daryl. I look around to everyone and see that Carol and even Andrea have tears in their eyes, and Andrea a tough women!

"Thank you," I say softly in the ladies' direction. Daryl slowly puts his arm around my back and hugs me tightly to his side. I sigh deeply and relax into him. He kisses the top of my head and starts walking off. He quickly stops and looks back at me and extends his hand in my direction. I walk over to him and grab the sides of his face and kiss him deeply, making him jump a little at my touch. "Thanks. For everything," I say pulling back. "I'm jus' gonna hang here for a while." he nods slowly and follows after Rick and the rest of the group. I look over and I can see Shane standing there by the RV. I glare at him hard and snarl as I make my way back to my sister's grave. I kneel down in front of it as I close my eyes and lower my head, saying a small silent prayer. The loud talking that soon fills the air brings me back to earth and I stand and join the rest of the group. "So what's goin' on with Randall?"

"We're making the decision now," Andrea answers.

"We're gonna kill him," Shane chimes in quickly.

"Of course. Because yer _so_ good at doin' that aren't ya? Ya know, the whole _killin'_ thing?" I blurt in as I step in closer towards the group.

"Okay, okay. We don't _need_ this right now!" Ricks says, slowly raising his voice. Daryl quickly grabs my hand to calm me. I take a deep breath and step back to his side and he wraps his arm around me. I couldn't believe they were just going to kill Randall. Didn't he deserve a chance? Doesn't anyone in this shit hole of a world?

"It's just the easy way out," I say. "Isn't there anything else y'all could do?"

"I agree," Dale says after me. "It's not right to just kill the kid for no reason."

"We _have_ a reason," Shane says coldly. And I'm sure Shane did, just because the kid was in existence was the reason. 'He could be a potential threat'.

"It's not good enough," I answer back to Shane.

"You can't tell me havin' their way with girls isn't a good enough reason cause that's what he said they did," Shane said raising his finger in Randall's direction.

"Yeah...he said _they_ did. I'm sure he didn't. I know him enough to know _he_ wouldn't."

"And when was the last time you saw him? People _change_!"

"Alright! That's enough!" Rick steps between me and Shane. "We're gonna kill him."

"Rick please," I plead as he and Shane make their way to the shed where Randall's locked up. I didn't want to be here. All I wanted to do was run. I told Randall I would try to help him. I guess I tried but not hard enough. I never even went back to talk to him, but I also didn't want to make Daryl more mad at me.

"Daryl...," Rick stops and calls out. I look up at Daryl and shake my head no. I didn't want him apart of this either. Daryl steals a short glance down at me and squeezes my side with his arm followed by a quick kiss on my temple. He takes off in a quick walk towards Rick and Shane.

_Screw_ them. Screw _all_ of them. They're going to make Daryl watch or even worse...make him kill Randall. They wouldn't do that would they? Make him do it? I know Shane wants to be the one anyways. That bastard. "Hey, Shawn." I turn at a light touch on my arm to see Andrea. I hadn't even realized I was staring into space. "You okay?" I force a half smile and slightly nod to answer. "Come walk with me."

I don't know what she wanted, but it felt nice to be with her at this moment. I think she was the closest with Allie. "Ya know your sister reminded me of my little sister," she spoke quietly. I quickly turn my head to the side to look at her. It was like she was reading my head. "She was a great girl."

"Yeah, she was," I agree.

"I don't exactly know what happened, but I'm sorry." I sigh, not wanting to explain to her the whole scenario because she probably wouldn't believe me just like everyone else.

It was nice having Andrea distract me from the whole Randall thing, but talking to me about Allie wasn't all that great either. I mean give me a few days before you just talk about her. Before I realized it, Andrea had brought me to a small field on the backside of the farm. It was beautiful here. "Allie and I found this field," Andrea said hesitantly.

"It's amazing," I breath as I take in the cool air.

"I'm sorry."

"For what?" I ask confused.

"I keep talking about her."

I chuckle, "it's fine. Ya know I wasn't all that nice to her. Makes me feel like shit. Feels like the past few months all we would do is get into arguments." I don't know why I'm explaining all this to Andrea, but if I were to at all it would be to her. "We always got along, but it seems like ever since we were on our own in this shit hole things between us went south. It's crazy, right? Seems like stuff like this would bring people together."

"Not always. Look at Rick and Shane. They were best friends...and now..."

"Yeah I guess," I answer quickly so she wouldn't go on. Anything about asshole Shane I just didn't care. "We should probably get back." Feel like we've been out here for about an hour and its getting into the afternoon hours, I'm guessing. Andrea stays quiet, just turns to me and smiles. I start walking back to the front side of Hershel's house and she follows. Once we start getting around to the front I see Rick and Shane coming back to camp. I start to get worried when I don't see Daryl following them.

"Where is he?" I ask them.

"Dead," Shane blurts out. My eyes grow wide and my heart stops for a second then I realize he's talking about Randall.

"That's great. Now where Daryl, asshole?" Shane just laughs and doesn't answer. I quickly pull out my knife and run to Shane. "WHERE-?" Rick stops me before the blade finds contact with his throat.

"He's in his tent, Shawn. Please, chill!" Rick finally answers.

"You're gonna run out of luck eventually and he won't be here to stop this knife from killing your ass," I say pointing my knife in Shane's direction.

"Yeah we'll see about that, sweetheart," I hear him call as I walk to Daryl's tent. Without turning around I flash up my middle finger behind me. I just know he loved that.

Before I can get to the tent I see Beth running to me on my left. "Hey!" I keep walking. Eventually Beth catches up and now she's walking beside me.

"You're really hard to catch up to," Beth pants.

"Whatdoya want girl?" I ask a little more snappy than intended.

"Um...just...wanted to say sorry. You know, about everything you've been going through."

"Hm, right," I huff.

"If it means anything now, I don't think Randall should've died either." Before I could say anything Beth was already taking off back to the house. I shake off what just happened and jog the rest of the way to Daryl's tent.

"Daryl?" I pant. "Ya there?"

"What?" He says unzipping the tent.

"Damn, you sound annoyed." When he steps outside he immediately looks down, clearly not wanting to see me. "What happened?" Daryl stays quiet with his head down. I reach out my hand in attempt to grab his attention, but he quickly slaps my hand away.

Obviously, something happened. Daryl was never like that with me. I was going to find out what happened one way or another. The group was now gathered by a fire they had made, as it was now getting into the evening hours. They were all laughing. _Laughing_! Like nothing happened. What the hell what wrong with these people?

"What the _hell_ is so funny?" I ask as I get closer to the group. "Y'all just killed a boy and yer all laughin' like ya just got a pony for Christmas."

"Girl, ya gotta chill. We're just trying to lighten the mood," Lori says as she holds Carl tight to her side. It was clear she didn't trust me with him, or trust me at all.

"Don't ya dare _ever_ tell me to _chill_, woman. Somethin's wrong with Daryl and one of y'all _best_ tell me what happened!" I find myself yelling now.

"Well you just said it. We killed a boy and maybe he's taking it a little hard," Andrea speaks up.

"C'mon. Yer really gonna try to tell yerself that? It's Daryl..."

"Maybe he really does have a soft spot deep down," Shane grins at me.

"Gota hell," I say just before storming back off to the tent. They clearly weren't going to tell me what happened in that shed with Randall.

"Daryl, please talk to me," I demand, unzipping the tent. I step inside to find it empty with Daryl's bag gone. "What the...? Where would he run off to?" I think maybe he went to our Cherokee Rose field that we found together. I run there at fast as I could, but see no sign of him anywhere. "Daryl!"

A few minutes have passed and suddenly I hear groans. "Shit. Walkers." But I don't see them. "Where are you?! Come and get me bitches!" I yell as I take out my dagger. Before I can help it I find myself falling on the ground face first as a walker tackles me from behind. There was loud gacking in my ear made by the walker on my back. I quickly shove it off. Before I can throw my dagger into it's brains, an arrow comes flying and hits it right in the left eye. I quickly look in the direction the arrow came from and see Daryl slowly lowering his crossbow.

"Stop followin' me!"

"What?!" I ask completely confused, now.


	16. Chapter 16: The Final Fight

**Sorry it took so long to get this done. I just got back from vacation. I started my other online class a few weeks ago, but ill try to write as much as I can for my other story. **

**Okay so this is the last chapter. I know the story wasn't that great. It was my first story and probably what I will do is go back and review it and revise it and change things to make it better. I will post updates whenever I do. **

**Thank you to everybody who has read it and liked it and posted reviews. Reviews are still welcome! I would love to know what people think about my story.**

**Remember to read my other story called 'you can't trust anyone'. I have a character bio page uploaded and the prologue and the first chapter. Please R&R!**

**Thanks again! I'll let you read the chapter now :p goodbye and here is the final fight :)**

* * *

**Chapter 16: The Final Fight**

"Stop follow-."

"Yeah I heard what ya said! What the _hell_ ya mean? Ya really think ya can just _leave_ me without me comin' to _look_ for ya?!"

"Keep ya voice down!" He yells in a whisper.

"If ya really think ya can just get away like that ya better think again!" I yell again, ignoring what he said. "What do ya think yer doin'? Yer really gonna leave? What about..."

"What?" He furrows his eyebrows. I give him a look like 'ain't it obvious?' "Don't ya dare say 'us'". I nod, my eyes growing wider.

"Well yeah. Us. Sorry, Daryl, but we kinda made an '_us'._" He rolls his eyes. "What _happened_? Just please tell me," I beg, slowly walking closer.

"They...they made me do it." Just then I knew what he was talking about. Why would they make Daryl kill Randall? Shane wanted to be the one to do it ever since he came to the farm.

"But Shane-."

"Rick thought he would be to hard on the kid," Daryl shot back.

I furrow my eyebrows. "What the hell is more harsh than _killin_' 'im?" Daryl shrugs his shoulders as he readjusts his crossbow, biting down on his bottom lip and looking down in discust. "Daryl..." I begin, reaching my arm out to the side of his face. He pulls away quickly and slowly backs up pinning himself against a tree. I never thought Daryl would be the one to cry but I swear I saw one single tear roll down his cheek. "It's okay..." I reach my arm out again and slowly stroke my hand up and down his arm trying to calm his quick breaths.

"It's not okay," Daryl whispers. "I just _killed_ a boy. A boy ya knew."

"It doesn't matter anymore." I take my hand under his chin and move his face slowly to look at him. It was clear he had hurt in his eyes. "It's okay," I try to reassure him again. I forced a half smile to let him know everything really was going to be okay but really I wasn't sure myself. "I'm going back. Why don't ya come on with me."

"Nah. I'm just gonna stay right here for a little while. Ya know...think a little bit." I turn my half smile into a full smile and kiss him on the cheek before walking away back to the farm.

* * *

I finally catch view of the farm after what feels like hours of walking out of the woods and I start hearing someone following me. I would only know it to be Shane. I just slowly take out my knife, turn to my right and of course there he was. "What do ya want, Shane?"

"Oh I'm just checking up on you. So how's the boyfriend?"

"Don't even bother, Shane. I know ya don't care," I say as I try to keep walking back to the farm.

"Yeah you may be right," Shane says following closely behind me. "But I do care about you." I stop dead in my tracks, clenching my knife hard in my hand, not believing what I had just heard this guy say. If he really cared he would just leave me alone. There was no way I was going to let him come back to the farm with me. I finally had enough. In one swift motion I raise my knife and strike him so hard and so fast and the chest he didn't even see it coming. In that moment I have become a full on killer. I didn't even care what people were going to say about me or do to me.

"Ya had this comin', Shane," I said coldly as I pierced my knife even further if possible. "Ya don't care about anybody. Ya only care about yourself." A couple tears rolled down the sides of Shane's eyes as he falls to the ground. He tries to sneak out a few more words before his last breath, but doesn't get the chance. I let out one long sigh, retrieving my knife from his skin. I wipe the blade clean on his shirt and come to my feet. It was completely dark now and I was starting to get worried about Daryl.

_Bang_!

"What the hell?"

_Bang_!

Gunshots. Gunshots were going off one after the other. I had to get closer to the farm to see what was going on. I run as fast as I could back to the farmhouse. I couldn't believe what I saw. Walkers were everywhere! What the hell was going on? Everyone was in a panic. I frantically looked around to see if Daryl had made it back yet but I couldn't see him anywhere. Oh God! Please let everyone be alright!

* * *

"Shawn! Where the _hell_ have you been?! And why do you have blood on you?" Andrea screams at me as I come running up the stairs to the front porch of the house.

"Doesn't matter. Where's Daryl?" I ask out of breath. She stays quiet as she shrugs and shakes her head. "Dammit!" I curse as I take my knife in hand and run back down the stairs into the walker infested yard.

"Where the hell are you going?" Andrea screams again.

"I have to find him!," I say as I quickly turn back around to face this group of people; these people that I will probably never see again, but I had to find Daryl. I don't care if he's still mad at me. I frantically run through the walkers, cutting down each one in my path. "Daryl!"

Two more figures come running towards me, one much taller than the other. I raise my knife ready to strike the closest one. I shut my eyes and draw my arm back ready to slash it forward but suddenly an arm reaches out and stops the knife from penetration the figure. "Shawn, it's me! It's _Rick_!" I open my eyes in shock and truly see Rick and his son Carl standing in front of me. I put my knife back on my belt and swing my arms around Rick's neck, taking him in a huge hug. Although he did always take Shane's side in every horrible situation, I sure was glad to see him. "We don't have time for this! We got to go!" I release my arms from Rick and take back a hold of my knife as I look down and smile at Carl.

"Let's go kill some walker ass."

More and more walkers start surrounding us making us change course to the barn. As we make it to the barn door I think of a plan. "Rick, if we can lure the walkers inside we could set this place on fire and bring every single one of them down."

"Yes! Great plan," Rick said as he started to open the door. We ran inside and a couple dozen or so walkers followed us. "You two get to the loft!"

Carl and I did as Rick commanded and took the ladder up to the loft of the barn. "Rick!" I yell down to him and handed him a can of gasoline that was tucked away in the corner. As more walkers stepped inside, Rick started engulfing each one with the gas. I threw him a lighter I was saving my pocket. More walkers were swarming inside, "Rick, do it _now_!" He clicked on the lighter and threw it at the closest walker making it blow up in flames. Soon almost every walker was engulfed with fire.

"Dad!" Carl screamed. Rick started climbing the ladder and met us at the top in the loft.

"Nice work," I said patting Rick on the back as we watched the walkers burn down one by one. Quickly, the whole barn was soon catching fire with the three of us still inside. "Shit, we gotta go!"

"Right," Rick responded back. All three of us hop out the small window in the loft onto a metal roof connected to the barn. I notice the RV racing it's way towards us. We jump on top and then down to the ground. Other walkers start to hurry over to where we stand.

"Hurry! Get in!" Andrea screams at us. Rick and Carl quickly run over to the door, but I stand there frozen still worried about Daryl. "Shawn!"

"I have to find Daryl!"

"We'll find him together! We _have_ to go!" As much as I hated to I hurry to the RV door where Andrea stands holding out her arm for me to grab and find my place safely inside. I only hoped it would go that way. As soon as I turned to run to the RV door there was an arm reaching around my neck with hacking and growling in my ear. Instantly I take both my arms and push the walker's head back to stop it from piercing it's teeth into my neck vampire style. "No! Shawn!" Andrea screams stepping outside the comfort of the RV and rushing over to help me.

"The...dagger," I manage to say as the walker takes a strong hold around my neck. Andrea then quickly unclips my dagger from my belt and jabs the walker in the head making it instantly fall to the ground. As soon as it releases hold of my neck I double over letting out a series of coughs.

"Come on! There's more!" Rick screams from the RV. Andrea helps me up the stairs to the RV and I find my seat at the table.

"Alright, we're good!" Andrea shouts out giving Dale the okay to drive away. Before I knew it we were driving off the farm. This couldn't happen! There was still everybody else! We couldn't just leave. _I _couldn't just leave. Daryl was still out there somewhere.

"Where the hell we going? What about the rest? We can't just leave!" I cry out, realizing I actually am crying.

"Are you okay?" Rick asks, putting a hand on my shoulder. I nod.

"Why are we leaving?!" I ask again.

"The highway...that's where everyone will go," Dale said.

"Why there?" I ask confused.

"Sophia. That's where we lost Sophia. They'll be there," Carl reassured us.

"How do you know that, kid?" I ask with a single tear running down my cheek.

"I just do," he smiles. I huff and roll my eyes away from Carl. All I can think about is if Daryl was okay. How could I just leave him in the woods like I did. He said he wanted to be alone but who knows what could've happened.

* * *

We finally make it to the highway and much to my dismay we're the only ones here. I knew it. They really thought everyone would just show up at the highway. "Where...?" I try to ask as I step out of the RV looking around to only see dozens of abandoned cars.

"I don't know. I thought they would be here," Andrea answers.

"They _will_ be here," Rick says as he walks to Andrea and I.

I couldn't believe what was happening. It was just me, Rick, Carl, Andrea, and Dale. Out of our whole group there was no way we were the only ones who survived the herd back at the farm. What the hell was that anyways? The walkers are starting to gather together. "Y'all we can't sit here on the highway like sitting ducks," I tell them. "God forbid we get attacked by another herd."

"They're traveling in packs," Dale says. "Soon it's going to start getting hard to avoid them. Specially now that we're off the farm."

"We can't just leave. We have to wait. My mom will come here," Carl demands. "Right, dad?" Carl looks to his dad for reassurance.

It was clear Rick had worry in his eyes. "Yes. They'll _all_ be here," he says to Carl half smiling.

* * *

About what seemed to be an hour, but really only a few minutes, goes by and still no one else has shown up. I was standing next to the RV playing with my dagger. Everyone else is huddled in a group together talking. I huff to myself as I stand there and wait for the rest of the group. As I wait for _him_...for Daryl. As I think about Daryl I think how we ended things. I hated it. That was the first real fight we've had. He was actually going to leave me...leave the group. Sooner or later he's going to realize I was right. We _did_ make an _"_us_". _He was just going to throw that away by leaving me and forgetting about me. How could he do that? Just because he killed Randall...

"Shawn!" Andrea screams in my direction. "Walkers!"

I quickly turn my head in the direction their scared faces look and unfortunately see another herd coming through. There was no way we were going to be able to take them on ourselves. Once the closest walker comes hit striking distance I raise my dagger and drive the blade into its skull, making it fall instantly. "Shawn, this way!" Rick yells to me. I so desperately wish Daryl was here. "Hurry!" Rick yells again. I take a look back at the herd that's quickly approaching and rush to follow Rick and the others. Rick led us around a bunch of cars grouped together to hide behind. A couple walkers followed us and Rick killed them with a small knife he had. The other didn't notice us walked passed.

"There were more of them there," Dale notes.

"Yes, unfortunately," Rick agreed. "We need to be careful." Once we see the coast is clear and the walkers are getting well away we decide to come out of hiding and head back to the RV.

Just then I heard a roaring sound coming down the other side of the highway. I turn around to see Daryl riding his bike with the others following in cars. "Holy shit...," I gasp.

"It's them!" An excited Carl shouts.

As soon as Daryl parked the bike, he started walking towards me. There was meaning in his walk and seemed like he could've run if he wanted to. Once he got right in front of my he just stopped. He was breathing sort of heavy and he looked like he wanted to say something, but wouldn't. I slowly lifted a hand to his cheek and looked into his soft blue eyes. I slowly started caressing his face then suddenly my eyes grew dark and in one swift motion I let my hand leave his face and come back fast and hard, making Daryl turn his head away in pain. "Ow!" Daryl exclaimed holding the right side of his face. "What the _hell_ was that for?!"

"You were gonna _leave_ me!"

"I thought we already talked about thi-," he tried to say, letting his hand leave his cheek.

"Let me finish!" I say aggravated, pointing a finger at him. He shuts up fast and looks at me fully intended to listen and possibly win the argument. "You were gonna leave," I say again, but in a little more calmly manor. I continue, "then you let me leave you in the woods, in the dark, with walkers everywhere. Do ya _know_ how worried _sick_ I was about ya?"

"Well maybe ya shouldn't have-,"

"No, you're right. I shouldn't have," I say cutting him off again. "But whether ya like it or not Dixon, there is an 'us' and I'm never going to freakin' leave you again." At this point Daryl started walking closer to me. "I don't care what ya say or do to try and drive me away, but it _won't_ work." I start to feel a couple tears roll down my face. "After I met ya I felt safe again even in this hell hole we live in. And after Mark I thought I would never trust another guy _ever_ again. My nightmares completely stopped. You'll never get rid of me Dixon...because I love you." At that split moment Daryl grabbed the sides of my face, taking me by surprise. He then kissed me so passionately I never thought a Dixon would be capable of such an act, but it was perfect.

"I love ya, Shawn," he says, pausing at my name. He kisses me again and I'm sure by now everyone is watching. I slowly break away to see if I'm right and sure enough...

Daryl looks back behind him to see everyone staring. "The hell y'all lookin' at?" They all laugh and Daryl turns his attention back to me. We smile at each other and give one last kiss before joining the rest of the group.

Looks to me everyone has made it back. Carl got his mom, Rick got his wife. T-dog, Maggie, Beth, Hershel, Carol, and of course Daryl all made it. Along with us that came in the RV. Everyone was exchanging hugs and we were all very happy to be together again. As Lori looked around, I could tell she was looking for someone and I'm pretty damn sure I know who. "Where's Shane?" She asked. Everyone else then looked around noticing he wasn't here. Right then I start to feel shaky. I had _no_ idea how I was going to tell everyone I killed Shane. Him and Rick were best friends, but I had to say something.

"There was a little mishap him and I had in the woods back at the farm, right before I came back," I spoke up.

"The blood...," Andrea whispers.

"Blood? What blood?" Lori asks panicked.

"Shawn had blood on her when she came back to the farm from the woods."

"What happened?" Dale asks.

"I...I...," I couldn't say it. Couldn't freaking say it! I start to cry quietly as I release myself from Daryl's arms and turn away from the group.

"Oh my God," Andrea gasps. "She killed him."

I let my face fall into my hands and I just cry. Daryl comes around me and takes my arms, putting them around his waist for a hug. I pull away and see worry and compassion in his eyes. I slowly turn to the rest of the group to admit the horrible thing I've done, even if I did completely loath the guy. Everyone's faces had fear and shock written all over them.

"I did. I killed Shane."


End file.
